Full Answer
What is the plot of Cry Freedom?
The synopsis below may give away important plot points. Cry Freedom is the story of Donald Woods (Kevin Kline), editor of Daily Despatch, a liberal newspaper in East London, South Africa and his historic friendship with Steven Biko (Denzel Washington), one of the most respected freedom fighters of South Africa.
Who are the actors in Cry Freedom?
Alec McCowen, Zakes Mokae, Ian Richardson How are ratings calculated? Cry Freedom was a Richard Attenborough movie about the struggle for freedom in South Africa. It claims to be about activist and leader Steve Biko played by Denzel Washington but it’s actually about a white reporter Donald Woods played by Kevin Kline who befriended Biko.
Is Cry Freedom a good movie?
Washington does a remarkable job of transforming himself into the articulte and mesmerizing black nationalist leader, whose refusal to keep silent led to his death in police custody and a subsequent coverup. June 19, 2008 | Full Review… An implacable work of authority and compassion, Cry Freedom is political cinema at its best.
What happened to Steve Biko in Cry Freedom?
A powerful drama that helped expose to the world the malfeasance of South African apartheid, Cry Freedom chronicles the fact-based friendship between an outspoken white newspaper editor and the South African pacifistic civil-rights activist, Steve Biko. After Biko suspiciously dies, Woods, though forced to flee...
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What is the message of Cry Freedom?
Cry Freedom delves into the ideas of discrimination, political corruption, and the repercussions of violence.
What is the story of Cry Freedom?
Donald Woods is chief editor at the liberal newspaper `Daily Dispatch' in South Africa. He has written several editorials critical of the views of Steve Biko, but after having met him, he changes his views and attracts attention from the security police. When Steve Biko dies in police custody, he writes a book about Biko. The only way to get it published is for Woods himself to illegally escape the country.Cry Freedom / Film synopsis
Is Cry Freedom based on a true story?
A wrenching portrait of life in South Africa under apartheid. This is based on the true story of black activist Steve Biko and his friendship with white newspaper editor Donald Woods. Biko opens Woods eyes to the reality of life in South Africa for black people.
What happens at the end of Cry Freedom?
The story has a happy ending: Woods and his family made it safely to England, where he was able to publish two books about his experience. (The bad news is that Biko was killed.)
Why did Biko agree to meet with Woods?
Biko invites Woods to visit a black township to see the impoverished conditions and to witness the effect of the government imposed restrictions which make up the apartheid system.
Why do people go to the streets and demonstrate?
There are three main reasons why people demonstrate or participate in movements: (a) instrumentality, the desire to change one's or one's group circumstances by influencing the social and political environments; (b) identity, the desire to be part of something bigger than oneself and to manifest this; and (c) ideology, ...
How did Donald Woods escape South Africa?
Mr. Woods hitchiked 185 miles to the Lesotho border, then swam and waded across a flooded river to sanctuary. He was reunited in the Lesotho capital, Maseru, with his wife, Wendy, and his five school‐age children, who had entered the country at a regular border checkpoint.
Is the movie Cry Freedom on Netflix?
Unfortunately, Cry Freedom is not on Netflix.
Why do you call yourselves black movie?
State Prosecutor : Isn't that a demand for violence? Steve Biko : Well, you and I are now in confrontation, but I see no violence. Judge : Why do you people call yourselves black? You look more brown than black.
What happened to Balintawak?
The Cry of Balintawak occurred on August 26, 1896. The Cry, defined as that turning point when the Filipinos finally refused Spanish colonial dominion over the Philippine Islands. With tears in their eyes, the people as one man, pulled out their cedulas and tore them into pieces.
Did Cry Freedom win any awards?
NAACP Image Award for...NAACP Image Award for...BAFTA Award for Best SoundCry Freedom/Awards
Is Steve Biko a philosopher?
Black consciousness was beyond a movement; it was a philosophy deeply grounded in African Humanism, for which Biko should be considered not only an activist but a philosopher in his own right. His legacy remains one deeply relevant today – of resistance and self-determination in the face of widespread oppression.
Who is Steve Biko in Cry Freedom?
Denzel WashingtonDenzel Washington: Steve Biko. Jump to: Photos (2)
When Was Cry Freedom released in South Africa?
November 26, 1987 (United Kingdom)Cry Freedom / Release date
Did Cry Freedom win any awards?
NAACP Image Award for...NAACP Image Award for...BAFTA Award for Best SoundCry Freedom/Awards
What happened to Balintawak?
The Cry of Balintawak occurred on August 26, 1896. The Cry, defined as that turning point when the Filipinos finally refused Spanish colonial dominion over the Philippine Islands. With tears in their eyes, the people as one man, pulled out their cedulas and tore them into pieces.
Storyline
Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is chief editor of the liberal newspaper "Daily Dispatch" in South Africa. He has written several editorials critical of the views of Steve Biko (Denzel Washington). But after having met him for the first time, he changes his opinion.
Did you know
The filmmakers intended to shoot in South Africa as early as October 1986, with permission from select prominent figures, including Oliver Tambo and Winnie Mandela. After interviewing Mandela, the production crew was placed under surveillance by the South African security police and followed everywhere.
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By what name was Cry Freedom (1987) officially released in India in English?
Movie Info
Set in apartheid-torn South Africa. Donald Woods is the editor of the East London Daily Express and Steve Biko is a young black leader struggling to improve life in the townships. The two form an unlikely friendship but when Biko is taken into police custody and then murdered, Woods is placed under house arrest.
TOP HEADLINES
The percentage of Approved Tomatometer Critics who have given this movie a positive review.
What is the story of the cry freedom?
"Cry Freedom" begins with the story of a friendship between a white liberal South African editor and an idealistic young black leader who later dies at the hands of the South African police. But the black leader is dead and buried by the movie's halfway point, and the rest of the story centers on the editor's desire to escape South ...
Where was the movie "Cry Freedom" filmed?
It is an issue, not a place, and "Cry Freedom" helps to visualize it. The movie was mostly shot across the border in Zimbabwe, the former nation of Southern Rhodesia, which serves as an adequate stand-in. We see the manicured lawns of the whites, who seem to live in country club suburbs, and the jerry-built "townships" of the blacks, and we sense the institutional racism of a system where black maids call their employers "master" and even white liberals accept that without a blink.
Who is Roger Ebert?
Drama. Roger Ebert. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.
Is the book "Cry Freedom" about Biko?
There is a reason for that. "Cry Freedom" is not about Biko. It is Woods' story from beginning to end, describing how he met Biko, how his thinking was changed by the man, how he witnessed black life at first hand (by patronizing a black speakeasy in a township and having a few drinks), and how, after he was placed under house arrest by the South Africa government, he engineered his escape from South Africa. The story has a happy ending: Woods and his family made it safely to England, where he was able to publish two books about his experience. (The bad news is that Biko was killed.)
What do parents need to know about Cry Freedom?
Parents need to know Cry Freedom depicts the atrocities committed by South African government authorities during its repressive and inhuman apartheid regime, the country's racist policy that lasted from 1948 to 1994.
Who is the smiling corrector in Cry Freedom?
Denzel Washington gives a nuanced performance, but his role as the smiling corrector of wrongheaded whites reduces the importance of who he was and what he did to promote his people's fight for equality. Plus he dies in the first half of Cry Freedom.
What happened to Biko in the movie?
Biko is beaten to death. His bloody body is shown. A man is imprisoned and later falsely reported by the police to have hanged himself. The home of an anti-apartheid editor is shot at by police. A family of black sympathizers are sent child-sized, acid-laced T-shirts by the police. A child's burned face is seen.
Cry Freedom
One of the best films of 1987 with its searing condemnation of racism and violence in South Africa.
Film Review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Cry Freedom is a stirring true story about two men from different worlds who are drawn together in a struggle against the racist regime in South Africa. Denzel Washington is charismatic as the soft-spoken leader Stephen Biko, whose advocacy of black consciousness and nonviolence inspires his people to new heights of self-esteem.
