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Cry, the Beloved Country (1995)

Rate: 4
Viewed: 5/24

CryBel1
5/24: South Africa is a "beloved country"?

Okay, if they say so...it's currently the rape capital of the world and has been so for decades. In 1994, the initial year of independence, there were about 19,000 reported rapes. Seven years later, it rose to 25,000. Out of that number, about 7% resulted in convictions. To this day, there's barely any improvement.

Back to the film, Cry, the Beloved Country is awful. I can see why I had never heard of it, thinking it may have been made before (it was in 1951 with Sidney Poitier), and why it grossed less than $700,000 against a budget of $4 million. Hence, don't be fooled by the adulations on the DVD cover: "★★★★ Powerful!", "One Of The Great Films Of The Year!", "Electrifying!", and "A Triumph!" You can blame the excessive marketing on Miramax's rapist-producer Harvey Weinstein (see Shakespeare in Love for further proof).

The main problem is the father's boy admitted to the murder and that's that. There's no drama involved. Instead, we have a lot of weeping from James Earl Jones when he's face-to-face with Richard Harris. What surprised me the most during the ordeal is that the black father and son are strangers. It's like they never met each other before, and I'm supposed to care how?

The other is the story doesn't flow well. I blame the editor by making it too episodic. At least, the cinematography is nice, and Richard Harris gives a strong performance which is almost reminiscent of what he did in The Field. James Earl Jones is okay; had the story been all about his character, the film would've died much worse. Therefore, everybody was lucky to have Richard Harris on board. By the way, "umfundisi" means "pastor" or "minister" in Zulu while "umnumzana" is "sir."

All in all, if you want power in regard to South Africa, then I recommend A Dry White Season over Cry, the Beloved Country.