Cry, the Beloved Country (1995 film)
| Cry, the Beloved Country | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Darrell Roodt |
| Produced by | Anant Singh Harry Alan Towers |
| Written by |
Ronald Harwood Alan Paton (novel) Joshua Sinclair |
| Starring |
James Earl Jones Richard Harris Charles S. Dutton |
| Music by | John Barry |
| Cinematography | Paul Gilpin |
| Edited by | David Heitner |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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106 minutes |
| Country | South Africa United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million |
| Box office | $676,525 (USA) (sub-total) |
Cry, the Beloved Country is a 1995 South African-American drama film directed by Darrell Roodt, based on the novel Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton. It stars James Earl Jones and Richard Harris.
This is the story of church minister Steven Kumalo who is requested from his village to Johannesburg. There he discovers that his son Absolom has been arrested for the murder of a white man. The white man's father James Jarvis, supports apartheid. When the two meet, they come to unexpected understandings about their sons and their own humanity.
Although this is a South African film, the majority of the main characters in the movie are played by Westerners, specifically Americans.
The score was composed by veteran English composer John Barry, who dedicated it to Nelson Mandela. It has been described by film score reviewer Christian Clemmensen of Filmtracks.com as "one of Barry's last truly enjoyable efforts." Barry, who had previously composed music for such African themed films as Zulu (1964), Born Free (1966), and Out of Africa (1985), used predominantly western musical styles to complete the score. The music is notable for referencing themes from Barry's previous work on Zulu, augmenting the original warlike compositions into a somber piano theme for travel scenes. The film also features the song "Exile" by Enya.
Cry, the Beloved Country received a mostly positive response from critics and holds an 85% "Fresh" rating from the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
Online critic James Berardinelli gave the film four out of four stars, and described the performances of Harris and Jones as "superb," concluding "Rarely does a motion picture touch the heart so deeply, with no hint of artifice or manipulation."Stephen Holden of The New York Times also wrote favorably of the film, commenting "In a moment as transcendent as it is risky, the screen erupts with a volcanic emotion that cuts through the prevailing high-minded contemplation. Why risky? Because movies have become so invested in the unleashing of violent emotion and the escalation of hostility, that expressions of restraint, reconciliation and forgiveness can easily be read as corny cop-outs. Cry, the Beloved Country is not corny, and it doesn't cop out."
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