Cry, the Beloved Country is a moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom. They live in an Africa torn apart by racial tensions and hate. It is based on a work of love and hope, courage, and endurance, and deals with the dignity of man. The author lived and died (1992) in South Africa and was one of the greatest writers of that country. His other works include Too Late the Phalarope, Ah, but Your Land Is Beautiful, and Tales from a Troubled Land.
The book was made into a movie starring James Earl Jones and Richard Harris. The book takes you to South Africa, where the land itself is the essence of a man. It as if the mountains, soaring high above the clouds, are the high moments in life, and the valleys are
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At times, sections of dialogue are lifted directly from the books pages. More importantly, however, Paton's themes are brought home with devastating, deep impact through a production that captures the book's essence as close as it recounts the narrative. There isn’t a false note in Cry, The Beloved Country. Every scene in the film is perfectly executed with great composition.
Cry, The Beloved Country is the first movie about racial relations in South Africa I personally have seen which trusts the viewer’s intelligence enough not to set up one or more characters as a straw man to represent everything evil about apartheid. Technically, the time period of the movie predates the formal institutionalization of apartheid, but I still think the point’s valid. Based on Alan Paton’s 1946 novel, this film gives us a loving but painful look at a society headed toward increasing division and violence. James Earl Jones and Richard Harris give great performances as fathers who are tested by the unhappy fates of their respective sons. When these two have their first major scene together, we can’t help but feel compassion over the emotion involved. And later, when they eye each other while taking refuge from a storm in a leaky church, they become an picture for two different and wary tribes sharing a common home. The meat of Cry, the Beloved Country concerns how events in the wake of the shooting transform the lives of Stephen Kumalo and James Jarvis. Each is forced to abandon their
In relation to pathos, the speech at some point triggers emotions as he remembers the events of the First World War from songs. Soldiers stayed in soggy areas, they were weary from walking from dust till dawn, the roads were poor and they were covered in mud and sometimes were freezing from the constant rains and wind. Yet still, they died while not complaining and simply upholding the ethical principles: Duty, Honor, Country. It was about seeking the truth and the light for them and they traded this with their tears, sweat and blood.
"I will make darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things I will do unto them and not forsake them” Isaiah 42:16. God promises to be there for His people as long as one believes in Him. The Kumalo family lives in a poor colored city in South Africa where they are constantly surrounded by the brokenness of the world. Knowing God will not forsake them helps one with building a strong connection with him. It is through this faith that Stephen, a priest, and devoted father, is able to find hope in the dark world he faces. Throughout the book Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton the flawed main character, Stephen Kumalo is able to go through the redemption cycle because of his relationship with God.
The drama-comedy film Mississippi Masala (1991) directed by Mira Nair explores an interracial love story between Meena, an Indian woman, and Demetrius, an African-American, portrayed by Sarita Choudhury and Denzel Washington, respectively. This is one of those movies that I had high hopes for and anticipated that by the end I would feel so empowered and moved that it would be impossible to not constantly hype up the motion picture to friends and strangers. To my relief, those expectations were met. I truly and deeply was so encapsulated and emotionally committed to this feature because it was massively progressive and transcended the norm of the time by depicting with such grace and tact, the power dynamics, racial hierarchy, colorism, and social contexts between the two racial groups in Uganda and the American south.
The journey of Cry is driven by three expressive intentions. The accompaniment in Cry is divided into sections that complement the A,B,C formal structure. For example, section one creates images of slavery, hardship and the struggle that the African American women experienced. Ailey has incorporated a length of fabric into the work to create symbolic meaning and imagery. Section one starts with Manning standing, overlaid with her white leotard and skirt, holding the while fabric to the sky. Manning slowly lowers the fabric, holding it out in front of her as she walks toward the front of the stage to place the fabric center front on the floor. Manning the tosses one end of the fabric to the side then sharply contracts to the side with her arm bent over her head, to then gently caress the material. This is then repeated on the other side. This change in dynamics and sharp angles shows her pain and fatigue as she is forced into labour. Manning creates images with the material as she scrubs the floor and ties herself down, standing on the ends of the material with it wrapped
First, I applaud the movie for daring to tell a story that nobody else presumed creating. Even in 2005, this was a pretty prohibited thing to discuss. To its credit, the movie follows the original story fairly close, but a details were left out that made all the difference.
John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.
In the movie A Better Life, the Main Character Carlos Galindo is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who started working as a day labor worker when he first arrived in the country, however he has had steady work from Blasco Martinez who owns a gardening business which he tries to convince Carlos to buy from him as he says he is moving. The idea of being self employed is very appealing to Carlos but he knows he can never afford to do so and the risk of getting caught and deported is very high. Carlos has a son Luis who is reluctant to go to school on a daily basis and gets into trouble as he is influenced by his friends who are part of the
Film makers use many historical events to spark up and idea for a movie. One historical event that is commonly used is war. One advantage a film maker has when using war as a movie plot is that there is already a lot of drama in war. This may seem like a good advantage for the film maker, however focusing on all of the drama of war leaves much of the actual info. When watching a war movie, you may feel like you have an understanding about the war, but when you really compare a war movie to an actual war you find that there is a lot of factual information left out. One may ask why would directors and film makers leave out the facts of war and focus on the drama? After reading The Faces of Battle by John Keegan and reviewing war movies
One must never judge or discriminate a person based on their physical attributes. Prejudice and discrimination directed against someone of a different race is known as racism. It is evident in the movie “Crash” directed by Paul Haggis, that people misconceive others due to judgement on their physical traits. Throughout the movie, the characters living in Los Angeles face the challenges of fitting in a town populated by people of different colours. The offenders are the “white” people whereas the victims are everyone else. The presence of racism is the main cause of every conflict that occurs in the movie.
The federal government placed many restrictions and discriminatory actions on the black troops. At the beginning of the Civil War, African Americans were not allowed to serve in the U.S. military. By the summer of 1862 it was clear that additional troops were needed. To meet the need, Congress passed two bills that allowed the participation of black soldiers in the Union Army. The Government established segregated units called The Bureau of Colored Troops. The measure lacked popular support and the U.S. Army did not begin recruiting black soldiers until 1863.
* Cry, The Beloved Country - Quester: Stephen Kumalo. A place to go: Johannesburg. A stated reason to
What were Edwin S. Porter's significant contributions to the development of early narrative film? In what sense did Porter build upon the innovations of contemporaneous filmmakers, and for what purposes?
“Men and women can't be friends, because sex always gets in the way”, is the main theme of the movie “When Harry met Sally”. The script is a good example of the interpersonal communication ten stage model by Mark Knapp. This developmental model entails the stages of a relationship from it’s infancy to an ending. In the movie we can clearly identify all ten stages of this model.
The Minority Report is a film that tries to stop crimes before they happen, with the enlistment of 3 teen pre-cogs. These pre-cogs predict future murders and the authorities swoop in and arrest the would-be murders, before they have the chance of committing the crime. Even thing goes great until Anderton, a cop played by Tom Cruise, is suspected. Written by Philip K. Dick and then turned to film by Steven Spielberg in 2002, the short story to film became a success. Though there are many differences between the book and the movie, one would think Steven Spielberg would not be able to grab audience’s attention, but with his skills, Spielberg went above and beyond all measures. Many times, novels to films end up being either a great hit
Into the Wild is a documentary film by Sean Penn that follows the life of Christopher Johnson McCandless, a vagabond who tramped across the United States for two years before his journey led him to Alaska, where he lived in the wilderness, sheltered by an abandoned transportation bus, preceding his death. McCandless grew up with all the privileges of being raised in the suburbs by a middle class family, he later went on to graduate from Emory University in Georgia, and seemed to have his whole life stretched out in front of him. However, he did the exact opposite of what was expected, severed all ties with his family, and adopted a life of chosen homelessness, where his travels led him on wild adventures across the country. Many speculate that McCandless was pushed to do this in order to spite his overbearing and abusive parents who verbally and physically assaulted each other in front of their children, demanding they pick a side. Some say it was McCandless’s desire to free himself from all material constraints and the burden of societal pressures. Taking a psychological approach, McCandless