POLITICS
Liberal newspaper editor Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) has convinced himself that Steve Biko (Denzel Washington) is an anti-white racist. Biko has been "banned" by the regime – meaning that he cannot associate with more than one person outside his immediate family at any one time, nor travel outside a specific area. Woods goes to meet him. In the film, Woods politely objects to Biko's message, and Biko responds with a gentle sermon on the plight of black South Africans. It's considerably toned down from the authentic version recounted in Woods's memoir, in which Woods lost his temper, shouting: "I don't have to bloody well apologize for being born white!" Biko's real-life response was good-natured, but more powerful and confrontational than the one in the film. He explained that he tried to discourage hatred of any sort, but his priority was to liberate black people – not to worry about the hurt feelings of white liberals. The way the South African government is framed shows a weakness in the political system and their supposed power and grip over people was well exposed by Attenborough.
RACISM/SEGREGATION (apartheid)
Apartheid: African word for apart or separate
Apartheid started in order to separate the different races. Not only to separate blacks from whites but whites from every other race as well. In 1948 under the power of Daniel Francois Malan segregation was enforced in order to enhance white supremacy.
Apartheid was the major theme of the movie "Cry Freedom." The movie's basis was mainly around the subject. Throughout the movie it showed the separation between blacks and whites.
South Africa had a tumultuous history that culminated into one of the world's most noted racially divided eras known as apartheid. Prejudice and discrimination were the primary tools used during this period to keep the country's racially unequal stratification intact for nearly fifty years. The inequality under apartheid lasted from 1948 until 1994 when the African National Congress took over government rule with the election of Nelson Mandela as president.
Before apartheid rule took effect in South Africa, there were elements in the nation's structure that foreshadowed the dark times that were on the horizon. Early British colonial rulers of the area set up laws that prohibited most blacks and local tribes from entering into areas that were populated by the whites that fell under their protection (US Library of Congress, n.d). This pre-apartheid period set the foundation for the racism and segregation that would plague South Africa for the next century. "We don't want to be forced into your society," says Biko. "I'm going to be me as I am, and you can beat me or jail me or even kill me, but I'm not going to be what you want me to be." But while the film lets Biko say that, it strives to present him as it wants him to be – humble, chaste, non-violent – not who he was. The real Biko spoke fierily, wittily and colloquially, peppering his speech with "hey, man". In the film, Biko talks like a slightly dull vicar from Suffolk. The real Biko's simultaneous long-term relationships with a wife and a lover, not to mention dalliances with many other women, are all but airbrushed out. "One cannot give a full account of the personality of Steve without mentioning his powerful sexuality," the real Woods wrote. The film tries, and is the poorer for it. This falls under the directors Selective perception, he chose what he wanted the viewers to see and know about Steve Biko.
WHITE PRIVILEGE
White Privilege: an advantage enjoyed by white members of a society beyond the standards given to all members of that society.
Most instances of white privilege in the film are small, passing moments that are just part of the context of the movie and not the focus of it.
The houses the whites live in comparison to the shacks the blacks live in.
Whites using their own nice cars and blacks using poor quality cars, company vehicles, taxis or buses.
The posting of a black police man on New Years Eve.
Biko’s comments on sub-conscious connotations of “black” and “white.”
Oct. 25, 1977, Steve Biko was quoted in the Boston Globe:
“Even today, we are still accused of racism. This is a mistake. We know that all interracial groups in south Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So as a prelude whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior.”
Most people have come to realize that racism is learned and we are not born with it so all the white children that grew up with that mentality only behaved so because that was what was planted in their minds and hearts before they knew any better.
Representation
The characters themselves are perhaps the most important symbols; Biko, the saviour-like figure, sitting amidst his "disciples" after the rugby match, preaching his gospel; Woods, the intelligent, compassionate and courageous individual fighting a corrupt system, symbolising the strength of man's spirit and his capacity for sacrifice. This appears to be how the key participants are represented. But what of other representations? Other blacks are represented in a very sympathetic light - perhaps even idealised; they are seen as intelligent, wise, good humoured and proud of their racial history. The black minister/priest who risks his own life to help Woods escape, the wise, good humoured old man who drives his battered car to the Telle bridge, Woods's maid, Evelyn who expresses genuine affection for the children and goes about her work with dignity and willingness of spirit, the black journalist, Mapetu who loses his life trying to establish the truth to print in Woods's newspaper - all these images suggest a very sympathetic representation. The only negative image of black people we have is of black policemen whom we are intended to see as having been corrupted by the white system, allowing themselves to be exploited by the white man to impose white-made laws on their fellow black men. Apart from the Woods family, the only other white people who appear are a fellow journalist/photographer who is also seen as a sympathetic liberal, a token white woman at the funeral and the police who are linked to Kruger, the Minister for Justice.
Representations of the police are typified in the images of Captain De Wet who arrests Biko after the football match. He is physically large, coarse faced and bull-like in appearance, features that are emphasized in extreme close ups. He is insulting, physically violent and unable to communicate in an intelligent and reasoned manner. He is to be seen as dull-witted, relying on the fist and the boot, rather than on the mind. This same kind of brutal image is repeated in the closing scenes of the Soweto uprising when the camera focuses in close up on the same broad, coarse features, the physical bulk and the readiness to use force - this time the indiscriminate force of the gun. Dramatic images such as that of the young boy running to escape over a wire fence and being shot in the back - reminiscent of similar images from post war films involving escapes from prisoner of war camps - or that of the policeman hanging out the window of a moving car, gun aimed at a fleeing child - an image straight out of American gangster films of the '30's - all reinforce this brutal representation. Kruger is a more sophisticated version of this image (like the Mafia boss); his brutality is either one step removed -instructing or colluding with De Wet and his men on their masked raid on the community centre - or verbal as in his comments already quoted about Biko's death leaving him cold. His thuggish representatives come knocking on Woods's door, armed with threats and hiding behind sinister-looking dark glasses.
The final impression of Cry Freedom is of a film of tremendous power which has something of the epic quality about it - sweeping shots of vast landscapes, huge crowd scenes and a theme of matching epic proportions. I don't have a budget figure for this but my guess is that it was a large one. Many things lead me to this conclusion. Firstly, although there are no big stars as such (John Thaw as Kruger and Timothy West as Captain De Wet are the only recognisable names to a British audience), the director, Sir Richard Attenborough, maker of another major film, "Ghandi" obviously has star quality and would be able to attract financial backing on the strength of his track record. He would also be liable to attract an audience who would be 'buying" the film on the strength of their recognition of the director's talent, rather than more conventionally, on the strength of the actor/actress's "star" rating. The high proportion of "on location" shots also suggest a high budget. The film was shot in Zimbabwe where the government was very eager to co-operate and to be seen as a sympathetic front-line state.
Media Theories
Framing helps to convey certain messages; for example, the central framing of Woods in his office establishes his importance and authority. When Biko and Woods first meet, Woods is in the left hand side of the frame, then there's a window in between and Biko is in the right hand side, emphasising the gap that still remains between them at this early stage in their relationship: they shake hands across a large space. In the trial scene, Biko is filmed in a kind of pulpit-like structure so that the camera tilts up to him, looking down on the judge who is in the middle and to the prosecutor who is on the other side of the frame, a positioning which emphasizes the triangular relationship of this power struggle.
Framing not only allows us to read the significance of and attitudes of characters but also directs us towards the codes being set down in the scene. For example, when Biko is lying unconscious in prison, the whole focus of our attention is on the naked figure lying on a stone floor, caged like an animal. Nothing else intrudes into the frame; it is what is left out of the scene that is important here - no extraneous and distracting detail, nothing to alleviate the literally naked power of the image. The very low level lighting works with the scene to enclose this scene in a highly dramatic manner. The markedly contrasting use of scene within the Woods house on New Year's eve where the lounge is a very comfortable room, expensively furnished, complete with piano, television set and decorative ornaments, captures the easy lifestyle which they have, in part, chosen to abandon. The interior of Kruger's house takes this idea of comfort one step further with its lavish furnishings that suggest a history of gracious living that has been passed from one generation to the next. The furniture is old, solid and entrenched in its setting, much like the Afrikaaner residents that inhabit the house. The scene within the black dwellings, on the other hand, is spartan in comparison; simple wooden table and chairs dominate the set and around these a cluttered scene suggesting cramped living conditions.
Before apartheid rule took effect in South Africa, there were elements in the nation's structure that foreshadowed the dark times that were on the horizon. Early British colonial rulers of the area set up laws that prohibited most blacks and local tribes from entering into areas that were populated by the whites that fell under their protection (US Library of Congress, n.d). This pre-apartheid period set the foundation for the racism and segregation that would plague South Africa for the next century. "We don't want to be forced into your society," says Biko. "I'm going to be me as I am, and you can beat me or jail me or even kill me, but I'm not going to be what you want me to be." But while the film lets Biko say that, it strives to present him as it wants him to be – humble, chaste, non-violent – not who he was. The real Biko spoke fierily, wittily and colloquially, peppering his speech with "hey, man". In the film, Biko talks like a slightly dull vicar from Suffolk. The real Biko's simultaneous long-term relationships with a wife and a lover, not to mention dalliances with many other women, are all but airbrushed out. "One cannot give a full account of the personality of Steve without mentioning his powerful sexuality," the real Woods wrote. The film tries, and is the poorer for it. This falls under the directors Selective perception, he chose what he wanted the viewers to see and know about Steve Biko.
WHITE PRIVILEGE
White Privilege: an advantage enjoyed by white members of a society beyond the standards given to all members of that society.
Most instances of white privilege in the film are small, passing moments that are just part of the context of the movie and not the focus of it.
The houses the whites live in comparison to the shacks the blacks live in.
Whites using their own nice cars and blacks using poor quality cars, company vehicles, taxis or buses.
The posting of a black police man on New Years Eve.
Biko’s comments on sub-conscious connotations of “black” and “white.”
Oct. 25, 1977, Steve Biko was quoted in the Boston Globe:
“Even today, we are still accused of racism. This is a mistake. We know that all interracial groups in south Africa are relationships in which whites are superior, blacks inferior. So as a prelude whites must be made to realize that they are only human, not superior. Same with blacks. They must be made to realize that they are also human, not inferior.”
Most people have come to realize that racism is learned and we are not born with it so all the white children that grew up with that mentality only behaved so because that was what was planted in their minds and hearts before they knew any better.
Representation
The characters themselves are perhaps the most important symbols; Biko, the saviour-like figure, sitting amidst his "disciples" after the rugby match, preaching his gospel; Woods, the intelligent, compassionate and courageous individual fighting a corrupt system, symbolising the strength of man's spirit and his capacity for sacrifice. This appears to be how the key participants are represented. But what of other representations? Other blacks are represented in a very sympathetic light - perhaps even idealised; they are seen as intelligent, wise, good humoured and proud of their racial history. The black minister/priest who risks his own life to help Woods escape, the wise, good humoured old man who drives his battered car to the Telle bridge, Woods's maid, Evelyn who expresses genuine affection for the children and goes about her work with dignity and willingness of spirit, the black journalist, Mapetu who loses his life trying to establish the truth to print in Woods's newspaper - all these images suggest a very sympathetic representation. The only negative image of black people we have is of black policemen whom we are intended to see as having been corrupted by the white system, allowing themselves to be exploited by the white man to impose white-made laws on their fellow black men. Apart from the Woods family, the only other white people who appear are a fellow journalist/photographer who is also seen as a sympathetic liberal, a token white woman at the funeral and the police who are linked to Kruger, the Minister for Justice.
Representations of the police are typified in the images of Captain De Wet who arrests Biko after the football match. He is physically large, coarse faced and bull-like in appearance, features that are emphasized in extreme close ups. He is insulting, physically violent and unable to communicate in an intelligent and reasoned manner. He is to be seen as dull-witted, relying on the fist and the boot, rather than on the mind. This same kind of brutal image is repeated in the closing scenes of the Soweto uprising when the camera focuses in close up on the same broad, coarse features, the physical bulk and the readiness to use force - this time the indiscriminate force of the gun. Dramatic images such as that of the young boy running to escape over a wire fence and being shot in the back - reminiscent of similar images from post war films involving escapes from prisoner of war camps - or that of the policeman hanging out the window of a moving car, gun aimed at a fleeing child - an image straight out of American gangster films of the '30's - all reinforce this brutal representation. Kruger is a more sophisticated version of this image (like the Mafia boss); his brutality is either one step removed -instructing or colluding with De Wet and his men on their masked raid on the community centre - or verbal as in his comments already quoted about Biko's death leaving him cold. His thuggish representatives come knocking on Woods's door, armed with threats and hiding behind sinister-looking dark glasses.
The final impression of Cry Freedom is of a film of tremendous power which has something of the epic quality about it - sweeping shots of vast landscapes, huge crowd scenes and a theme of matching epic proportions. I don't have a budget figure for this but my guess is that it was a large one. Many things lead me to this conclusion. Firstly, although there are no big stars as such (John Thaw as Kruger and Timothy West as Captain De Wet are the only recognisable names to a British audience), the director, Sir Richard Attenborough, maker of another major film, "Ghandi" obviously has star quality and would be able to attract financial backing on the strength of his track record. He would also be liable to attract an audience who would be 'buying" the film on the strength of their recognition of the director's talent, rather than more conventionally, on the strength of the actor/actress's "star" rating. The high proportion of "on location" shots also suggest a high budget. The film was shot in Zimbabwe where the government was very eager to co-operate and to be seen as a sympathetic front-line state.
Media Theories
Framing helps to convey certain messages; for example, the central framing of Woods in his office establishes his importance and authority. When Biko and Woods first meet, Woods is in the left hand side of the frame, then there's a window in between and Biko is in the right hand side, emphasising the gap that still remains between them at this early stage in their relationship: they shake hands across a large space. In the trial scene, Biko is filmed in a kind of pulpit-like structure so that the camera tilts up to him, looking down on the judge who is in the middle and to the prosecutor who is on the other side of the frame, a positioning which emphasizes the triangular relationship of this power struggle.
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