I read CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY in high school, and was quite impressed by it's dignified and somber retelling of the tragedy of modern South Africa under the apartheid system that was in place at the time. Alan Paton had a literary and political career in the Union of South Africa, and was opposed to the system that kept down the native Black Africans while the native white Africans ruled them. His novel was quite shocking in his home country, and led to his being forbidden to be published there. Now he seems remarkably prescient.
The novel was made into a film in 1951, which I never saw. But I have finally seen this version today and while it whittles down the plot a bit, it's emphasis on the dual tragedy of the Kumalo and Jarvis families actually enhances the effect.
James Earl Jones plays Rev. Stephen Kumalo, an honorable man from the countryside who goes to Johannisburg to find his son Absolom. From the start we see contrasts. The beauties and glories of the magnificent veld v. the dirt and grime of the city. The large home of the Jarvis family as opposed to the poor homes of Rev. Kumalo.
Rev. Kumalo goes to an address in one of the slums of Johannisburg that the Blacks were forced to live in. He tries to trace his son, with the assistance of a fellow minister, Rev. Msimangu ( Vasi Kunene) and gets less helpful assistance from his brother John Kumalo (Charles S. Dutton). The latter is a local politician, but is soon revealed to be an opportunist and crook.
Eventually Rev. Kumalo finds his son has been in trouble with the police, and recently released from a reformatory. This was due to Absolom having a pregnant girlfriend. The Reverend traces his son to the girlfriend, but she has not heard from him for a few days. The next thing that the Reverend hears is that Absolom and two others (including the son of John Kumalo) were involved in a burglary murder that resulted in the death of Ian Jarvis.
Tom Jarvis, long used to accept the harsh separation of the races as natural, comes to a stunning discovery - his son's posthumous condemnation of the social system of South Africa as one to abhor as it breeds crime and hatred. The discovery of this side to his son leads him to slowly find a bridge uniting him with Rev. Kumalo, as they both find the system destroy their boys.
One has to see the film to understand this bridging of the the lives of the fathers (ironically neighbors who rarely knew each other or each other's families in the "normal" period). One also sees the warning that Paton instilled in his readers: Rev. Msimangu's fear that when the White race finally turns to love the Black race will only accept hate.
Much is dropped of the four hundred fifty page novel, such as Paton's ritualistic use of descriptions again and again (which can't be translated to film successfully) or plot threads regarding the final break between the Reverend and his brother John, or the Reverend trying to trace other lost children from the town (one is mentioned briefly). But the somberness of the tragedy of Absolom, who with Ian become joint blood sacrifices to a racist state is total. The performances of Jones and Harris are equally effective. Altogether a first rate film version of the novel.
The novel was made into a film in 1951, which I never saw. But I have finally seen this version today and while it whittles down the plot a bit, it's emphasis on the dual tragedy of the Kumalo and Jarvis families actually enhances the effect.
James Earl Jones plays Rev. Stephen Kumalo, an honorable man from the countryside who goes to Johannisburg to find his son Absolom. From the start we see contrasts. The beauties and glories of the magnificent veld v. the dirt and grime of the city. The large home of the Jarvis family as opposed to the poor homes of Rev. Kumalo.
Rev. Kumalo goes to an address in one of the slums of Johannisburg that the Blacks were forced to live in. He tries to trace his son, with the assistance of a fellow minister, Rev. Msimangu ( Vasi Kunene) and gets less helpful assistance from his brother John Kumalo (Charles S. Dutton). The latter is a local politician, but is soon revealed to be an opportunist and crook.
Eventually Rev. Kumalo finds his son has been in trouble with the police, and recently released from a reformatory. This was due to Absolom having a pregnant girlfriend. The Reverend traces his son to the girlfriend, but she has not heard from him for a few days. The next thing that the Reverend hears is that Absolom and two others (including the son of John Kumalo) were involved in a burglary murder that resulted in the death of Ian Jarvis.
Tom Jarvis, long used to accept the harsh separation of the races as natural, comes to a stunning discovery - his son's posthumous condemnation of the social system of South Africa as one to abhor as it breeds crime and hatred. The discovery of this side to his son leads him to slowly find a bridge uniting him with Rev. Kumalo, as they both find the system destroy their boys.
One has to see the film to understand this bridging of the the lives of the fathers (ironically neighbors who rarely knew each other or each other's families in the "normal" period). One also sees the warning that Paton instilled in his readers: Rev. Msimangu's fear that when the White race finally turns to love the Black race will only accept hate.
Much is dropped of the four hundred fifty page novel, such as Paton's ritualistic use of descriptions again and again (which can't be translated to film successfully) or plot threads regarding the final break between the Reverend and his brother John, or the Reverend trying to trace other lost children from the town (one is mentioned briefly). But the somberness of the tragedy of Absolom, who with Ian become joint blood sacrifices to a racist state is total. The performances of Jones and Harris are equally effective. Altogether a first rate film version of the novel.