The document is a review of the film "Cry Freedom" about anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko. It summarizes that the film portrays Biko as a saintly martyr rather than the vibrant leader he was in real life, toning down his message and airbrushing aspects of his personality. It also criticizes that most characters mispronounce Biko's name, and that the film focuses more on the story of white newspaper editor Donald Woods escaping South Africa rather than Biko's story. The review concludes that while well-meaning, the film is not the best resource for learning about the real Steve Biko.

1. Cry Freedom: Richard Attenborough makes a Mandela of Steve Biko | Alex von Tunzelmann | Film | guardian.co.uk 10/06/2010 16:10
Cry Freedom: Richard Attenborough
makes a Mandela of Steve Biko
Attenborough's drama gives us a saintly martyr in place of a
vibrant hero. And then pronounces his name wrong
Alex von Tunzelmann
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 10 June 2010 11.07 BST
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A powerful leader turned into a poster boy … Richard Attenborough on the set of Cry Freedom. Photographs:
Ronald Grant Archive
Director: Richard Attenborough
Entertainment grade: C+
History grade: C
Cry Freedom
Production year: 1985
Country: UK
Cert (UK): PG
Runtime: 158 mins
Directors: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Denzel Washington, Kevin Kline, Penelope Wilton
More on this film
Along with Nelson Mandela and Robert Sobukwe, Steve Biko was one of the most
important anti-apartheid leaders in mid-20th century South Africa.
Politics
Toned down … Washington and Kline
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
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2. Cry Freedom: Richard Attenborough makes a Mandela of Steve Biko | Alex von Tunzelmann | Film | guardian.co.uk 10/06/2010 16:10
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 apologise 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. Director Richard Attenborough, much lauded for the Gandhi he created,
projects an almost identical personality on to this icon. But the Gandhian in South
Africa was Mandela, not Biko.
Race
Not dull in real life … discussing how to end apartheid
"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. So this movie, honouring a black hero who staked his identity
on refusing to conform to white liberal expectations, redesigns him ... to conform to
white liberal expectations. Oops. Alanis Morrissette, if you're reading – this is actually
ironic.
Law
Justice denied … Denzel Washington
Woods goes to the country garden estate of police minister Jimmy Kruger (John Thaw,
who is superb). Woods asks Kruger to lay off persecuting Biko. Kruger plays nice at the
time, but later secretly turns on Woods – sending the police after him instead.
Meanwhile, Biko is arrested. He sustains a suspicious head injury, and dies in custody.
Shamelessly, the authorities claim he did it himself, with a hunger strike. "Biko's death
leaves me cold," Kruger snarls at a press conference. This line, unpleasantly enough, is
accurate. The pronunciation is not. Almost everyone in the cast (except Washington)
mispronounces the name Biko. The man himself said it bee-core, to rhyme with
"seesaw" – not bee-koh, to rhyme with "neato".
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3. Cry Freedom: Richard Attenborough makes a Mandela of Steve Biko | Alex von Tunzelmann | Film | guardian.co.uk 10/06/2010 16:10
"seesaw" – not bee-koh, to rhyme with "neato".
Violence
Lucky escape … Kevin Kline
Woods, too, is banned by the regime. He eventually flees the country. At the very end
of the film, he has a flashback to the Soweto uprising where, on 16 June 1976, police
opened fire on protesting school students. Recreated here, the scenes of the massacre
are devastating. They are also jarring, because they're so much more dramatic than the
last hour of the film, which has focused on how Woods slipped past his ban and got out
of South Africa. Certainly, Woods's experience was remarkable. But when the viewer is
suddenly presented with hundreds of children being shot in the streets, you've got to
wonder whether "white guy escapes" is the story most in need of telling here.
Verdict
Preaching to the converted … Denzel Washington
A well-meaning film about the white liberal experience in South Africa – but, if you
want to know about Steve Biko, look elsewhere.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
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