Cry Freedom (Blu-ray) (1987)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	None
Rating
Year Of Production	1987
Running Time	157:35 (Case: 155)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Programme
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Richard Attenborough
Studio Distributor	Umbrella Entertainment	Starring	Kevin Kline Denzel Washington Penelope Wilton Josette Simon Zakes Mokae Garrick Hagon
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$19.95	Music	George Fenton Jonas Gwangwa

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.35:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     A motion picture about South Africa's racial and political unrest during the tyrannical apartheid years, 1987's Cry Freedom is a stirring epic drama with an important story to tell, even if minor historical liberties are taken. Based on the books "Biko" and "Asking for Trouble" by journalist Donald Woods, Cry Freedom is to date the only movie which explores the life and legacy of Bantu Stephen Biko, an important political figure in South Africa's fight to end apartheid. The movie was directed by the late Richard Attenborough, who is no stranger to films of such scope or historical importance, having previously cut his teeth helming the likes of A Bridge Too Far and Gandhi. Even though Cry Freedom clocks in at an intimidating 157 minutes, Attenborough's confident sense of pacing staves off abject boredom, though it will not exactly enrapture viewers who prefer action-packed blockbusters. Indeed, the film requires patience, but it's a rewarding watch for those with the appropriate attention span.

     In South Africa during the turbulent 1970s, white liberal Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) works as the editor of the Daily Dispatch newspaper, and is not shy about condemning the ideologies and actions of black anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko (Denzel Washington). However, Woods accepts Biko's invitation to visit the freedom fighter's impoverished black township, to witness first-hand the effects of the government's apartheid restrictions. Woods and Biko develop a fast friendship, with Woods coming to understand the blacks' point of view and later publishing articles in support of Biko's cause. When Biko abruptly dies in custody, officials are tight-lipped and deceptive, leaving Woods determined to expose the truth to the public. But this attracts unwanted attention and harassment from the South African authorities, threatening the safety of Woods and his family, including wife Wendy (Penelope Wilton) and their five children. Deciding to publish his book which reveals the South African government's racist and corrupt nature, Woods plans to flee the country and seek political asylum overseas.

     Scripted by Gandhi scribe John Briley, Cry Freedom is broken into two distinct halves, initially chronicling the blossoming friendship between Woods and Biko as the newspaper editor learns to empathise with the black South Africans, while the second half traces Woods' risky mission as he endeavours to escape the country with his family. Commendably, Briley avoids the well-worn biopic structure, resisting the temptation to portray the life story of either Biko or Woods, instead remaining focused on portraying this important period stretching over a few years. Admittedly, the film is somewhat stodgy in its early stages, but things soon pick up once Biko and Woods begin spending time together, shining a light on South Africa's racial injustices and the need for change. Perhaps Cry Freedom feels a tad routine during Woods' escape from the country, but the craftsmanship is nevertheless commendable despite the third act's conventional disposition, and though there are moments of nail-biting tension, the events are not played up to a ridiculous extent for the sake of making things more exciting. (There is certainly no bullet dodging or any shootouts.)

     Although Cry Freedom continues to draw criticism for its ostensible "white saviour" narrative since Woods is the protagonist, this angle actually makes the most sense. Aside from the story being true, filtering the narrative through Woods' eyes turns him into the audience surrogate, as he originally opposes Biko before becoming drawn into the activist's world and understanding his viewpoint. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, this approach lets Attenborough depict Biko's posthumous legacy, with Woods growing increasingly determined to publish his book and spread the truth, motivating him to flee the country he calls home. In other words, this is the most complete and cohesive story about Biko and Woods to tell within the time restrictions of a motion picture. Admittedly, some plot points and events feel slightly underdone, particularly the escalation of Biko's treatment in custody, which occurs off-screen, but one supposes that Attenborough chose to keep the material PG for wider consumption, rather than devolving into extended sequences of torture. On that note, the rating is certainly pushed to its boundaries during a violent dramatisation of the Soweto uprising late into the film, but Attenborough maintains an appropriate sense of tact amid the brutality.

     Cry Freedom is an old-fashioned actors' movie, and an ideal cast fills out the ensemble. In the first role to earn him an Academy Award nomination, Washington is superb as Biko, espousing an unfailingly convincing accent and delivering a credible performance. Washington is riveting and above all magnetic in every frame, and he is sorely missed when Biko dies at the halfway mark. Luckily, however, a few flashbacks pepper the film's second half, which deepen both the story and the characters' relationships, in addition to providing more welcome screen-time for Washington. Matching Washington at every step is Kline (who won an Oscar for A Fish Called Wanda a year later), who's sublimely low-key and even-tempered, yet clearly conveys Woods' strong resolve and passion for the political cause. Kline's accent is credible and consistent, and he makes for a charismatic leading man. Meanwhile, Penelope Wilton (Shaun of the Dead) brings her trademark gravitas to the role of Wendy Woods, denoting another fine addition to the cast.

     Despite the movie's political machinations and prolonged running time, Cry Freedom does not feel like a dreary history lesson, or like unwelcome homework. On the contrary, Attenborough stages an involving and edifying political drama, anchored by exceptional performances across the board and arresting visuals. Cinematography by the late Ronnie Taylor (Gandhi) is striking and eye-catching, while the generous $29 million budget results in authentic-feeling locations and sets. (The movie was primarily shot on location in Zimbabwe and Kenya.) Although Cry Freedom was poised to sweep the Academy Awards upon its release in 1987, it failed to make much of a mark, while it sank like a stone at the box office, with a final gross falling just short of $6 million. In spite of this, and despite the film ultimately fading into obscurity, Cry Freedom is well worth your time.

Video

     Cry Freedom makes its Australian Blu-ray debut courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment, who present Richard Attenborough's sweeping political epic in AVC-encoded 1080p high definition, framed at its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. There are no extras on this disc at all, neither is there a menu - the movie gets an entire dual-layered BD-50 to itself, with Umbrella permitting a sublime average video bitrate of 34.15 Mbps. As a result, the disc is filled almost to full capacity. There might have been some temptation to cut costs by squeezing the flick onto a single layer disc with pitiful compression, so let's be thankful that Umbrella spared no expense bringing us the best presentation of the movie currently possible on Blu-ray, short of an expensive remaster. In short, this is a pleasingly sharp transfer which excels in terms of fine detail and textures, though one will not exactly mistake this for a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray.

     Umbrella sourced the high definition master direct from Universal Studios, and it does appear to be another old master that was probably prepared for its DVD release back in 2001. However, I can happily report that the master is in surprisingly great shape. Universal are notorious for excessive digital noise reduction and edge enhancement, but Cry Freedom looks surprisingly organic, without any distracting digital tampering. However, grain does admittedly take on a slightly chunky appearance, which is probably inherent to the master as opposed to representing a fault of the otherwise hugely impressive video encode. The opening titles are understandably rough, with noticeable gate weave throughout the titles and the opening montage. And since most of these are optical shots, there's noticeable print damage to boot. Some of the optical zoom-ins during this opening montage also look in poor shape, which is par for the course. Once the film proper begins, however, things quickly settle down and there is much to admire about this high definition transfer. Admittedly, though, print damage does show up sporadically throughout the movie, with white specks and minor telecine wobble which varies in terms of severity (just see any shot which includes an on-screen title for instances of gate weave). Also, the final shot of the movie - another optical with titles and a fade-out - looks incredibly rough, with heavy grain, hairs, scratches, specks and telecine wobble. Your mileage will vary with this type of thing - I personally didn't find it overly bothersome for the most part.

     But blimey, this presentation looks gorgeous more often than not, doing justice to Ronnie Taylor's lush photography. Close-ups in Woods' office at 11:30 during a tense conversation reveal a wealth of detail on skin and clothing, while superb sharpness finely renders hairs and edges. Or see another facial close-up at 36:45 when Biko is under arrest. A fair amount of the movie takes place in daylight, and these commendable qualities continue throughout - especially in wide and medium shots, fine detail and textures are eye-popping. Although the grain looks somewhat chunky, I'm glad that neither Universal nor Umbrella chose to DNR this master, as the in-tact grain ensures textures look so impressive. Indeed, I was unable to detect any unsightly smeariness or smoothness, with the presentation looking welcomely organic from start to finish. Some people might take issue with the heaviness of the grain, particularly during darker scenes or optical shots, but it's preferable over rampant smeariness. However, shadow detail is hit-and-miss during darker scenes - just see Woods being shown around impoverished black neighbourhoods at night at the 24-minute mark, or in a subsequent club scene which is hazy to boot, affecting clarity. There are also some slightly problematic shots when Biko is intercepted at a road block at the 63-minute mark, or when Woods is in a vehicle at 88:10. Furthermore, I noticed some oppressive blacks from time to time, for instance when Biko is incarcerated and subsequently put into a vehicle at around the 70-minute mark. Clarity during these scenes is mixed, with parts of the frame noticeably crushed under the oppressive black levels. Also, it almost goes without saying, but specular highlights are lost from time to time - when Biko speaks in a courtroom at the 38-minute mark, for instance, the beams of bright sunlight on his shoulders absolutely eradicates all highlights and fine detail on his clothing.

     Colours are pleasing, with lush greenery, accurate skin tones, and a palette that looks faithful to the era - there's no contemporary colour grading revisionism. Despite Cry Freedom's Blu-ray transfer making use of a DVD-era master prepared by a studio with a terrible reputation for catalogue titles, this is a strong and mostly pleasing high definition presentation which trumps releases of countless other movies of a similar vintage. The lack of distracting digital tampering is a huge boost, while Umbrella positively maxed out the video bitrate to make for the best possible viewing experience with the master at their disposal. And my word, the encode is practically faultless, free of any bothersome macroblocking, aliasing, banding, or other anomalies. The film's obscure status, as well as its box office failure and Universal's ostensible unwillingness to release it on Blu-ray themselves, means that the chances of a superior remaster (let alone a 4K remaster) are slim to none, so it's fortunate that Umbrella have done such a good job here. Fans will appreciate the satisfying upgrade afforded by the 1080p encode, while videophiles will easily enjoy this one without being bothered by excessive DNR or edge enhancement.

     No subtitles are available. There are a couple of brief instances of characters speaking Afrikaans, and there are no accompanying subtitles, but it's easy to figure out the gist of said dialogue. It's unclear whether or not this is an oversight, as I've never seen this movie on DVD or any other medium.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The sole audio option on the disc is a lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0 track, which is 24-bit and encoded in stereo, in keeping with its original 6-Track audio mix. It's clear from the outset that the audio was appropriately remastered for home video exhibition, as it's completely free of hissing, popping, clicking, and drop-outs, while I was unable to detect any sync issues of note (outside of some noticeable ADR, but that's a fault of the original mixing). On Blu-ray, the audio is robust and crisply-rendered with a pristine lossless encode - it's agreeably clear (within the limitations of the period's recording equipment), and there's perfunctory activation of the sound channels, with the music as well as environmental ambience coming from the rear speakers for superior immersion. Cry Freedom is a dialogue-driven movie, and thankfully there are no issues with prioritisation - dialogue is always audible and comprehensible, no matter the atmospherics or the music (the club scene at the 26-minute mark is immaculate from a prioritisation standpoint). Speaking of atmospherics, the subtle chirping of crickets can be heard during night-time scenes, while birds and other bugs can be heard during outside scenes set during the day. Meanwhile, music comes through cleanly, and there's sufficient impact for louder sound effects, such as the gunshots during the Soweto uprising.

     It's not reference material, but Cry Freedom sounds extremely good on Blu-ray, all things considered. A 5.1 remix might be enticing, but I can't say I found myself yearning for one.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing at all. There is not even a disc menu. Like Single White Female and The Shadow, this one is barebones. However, there is a reversible cover so you can enjoy the cover art without any ratings logos.

     There is currently only one other Blu-ray release of Cry Freedom on the market - an Italian disc released in 2017. At the time of writing, no reliable specs or details regarding the disc are available. This movie has never seen any substantial extra features. The Australian DVD release only came with a trailer. Meanwhile, overseas DVD releases came with:

• Production Notes
• Cast & Filmmakers' Bios
• Film Highlights
• Theatrical Trailer
• Web Links

    Another enthralling epic from director Richard Attenborough, Cry Freedom is a superb chronicle of true events that occurred in a turbulent 1970s South Africa, when the fight against apartheid intensified. I wouldn't exactly call it highly enjoyable, but it's a fine historical drama bolstered by superb actors and convincing production values.

     Arriving on Blu-ray courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment, the technical presentation is very satisfying, as the film greatly benefits from the high definition upgrade. Although no extras are included on the disc, this is still a worthwhile buy. Recommended.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall