Film Review of Cry Freedom

1. Who was your favorite character from the film? Why?

I had two characters from the film. The first one is obviously Steve Biko. I really liked how he put people in their place especially regarding white privilege and white liberals in general. I think he was also a great speaker and political activist. Reading further about him, I learned that he was also a socialist and was inspired by Frantz Fanon <3 and the Black Panther Party (BPP) of the USA. We can see how for example they had Black Community Programmes, which were similar to the Survival Programs that the Black Panthers organized in the USA which were community organized educational, medical, free breakfast programs,  and other services by members of the community to the rest of the community.

I also really liked Doctor Ramphele, I thought she was really brave and gutsy.


2. What was your favorite scene from the film? Why?

I have two favorite scenes. The first one is when Doctor Ramphele goes to Donald Wood's office to demand who was responsible for writing about Biko's political ideas. I thought it was great because she didn't want to let her comrade be regarding as a "black racist" and was the hook for Donald Wood and Steve Biko to become friends.

Another scene that I didn't like but I think is one of the most important scenes is in the end when they show the Soweto Massacre of 1976 because it's a pivotal point for the downfall of the apartheid. It really shocked the world to see the police and army massacre school children.


3. How does the film differ from the other films? Use the article from The Guardian to help you

This film was different in various ways. One important detail is that all the other films talked about ANC members, while Biko was never a member of the ANC, but rather of the Black People's Convention. I liked how the film developed Biko's vision of a pluralist South African society. They did this by having him explain his ideas to Woods and also showing how racism was connected to class exploitation (for example, it was blacks that worked for the whites and did like almost everything for middle and upper class whites, including Woods).

I also liked how the film showed the friendship between Biko and Woods, you could tell that they were good friends and that Woods learned a lot from Biko.