Review of Cry Freedom (1987) by Uditha D — 22 Dec 2011

This is undoubtedly the best cinematic treatment of the apartheid (or for that matter, racism in general) I have ever watched until now. I believe Cry Freedom's biggest strength lies in none other than its top notch array of performances, especially its main two heroes - Kevin Kline as liberal Donald Woods, and of course Denzel Washington in a career-defining role as Steve Biko.

The film as a whole was quite convincing, although along a certain point I did feel as though it seemed to dragged on endlessly. However, I simply couldn't deny the charm the film had, especially in its final half, where Donald Woods puts into action a remarkably planned (and shot), suspense-filled escape plan with his family.

Its final message - as a treatise against the stifling brutality of apartheid - was effectively shown, especially by Washington's commendable performance as Biko. His performance was such that even though he dies before the second half of the film, I felt as though he was actually present thereafter, right towards the ending.

In spite of this, however, as a final balance, I felt that the ending had a chronological problem - why put that scene of a protest gunned down horrifyingly by government agents at the end Overall, however, with Kline and Washington, Cry Freedom ultimately became an uplifting, even irresistible, drama that I think should be watched by all those opposed to racism, inequality, injustice, and police-states.