The movie, "Cry, The Beloved Country," was directed by Darrell Roodt, and is based on the popular book by Alan Paton. The film is set in the year 1946 in South Africa, and details the story of Reverend Stephen Kumalo, who lived in the small village of Ndotsheni. His son, Absalom, lives in the city of Johannesburg. Stephen travels to Johannesburg to find his son and his lost sister. The film details many different aspects of fear, namely fear of the unknown, fear of the future and fear of anger. The director portrays this fear through the use of facial expression, gesture/posture and tone of voice.
The director demonstrates a fear of the unknown through gesture/posture. An example of this fear is when Stephen Kumalo is afraid to open the letter. When Stephen doesn't open it, it is easy to tell something is wrong. When he looks at it a second time, he sighs, showing he is afraid. He goes to open it but then slams it back down on the table, with a great big frown on his forehead. When his wife appears and says that they are afraid to open the letter, Stephen acts very defensively. His wife then starts to open the letter and the frown on his forehead shows he is frightened. He stares into middle distance while his wife reads the letter. Stephen Kumalo's features and gestures portray the fear of the unknown very effectively.
The director demonstrates a fear of the future through tone of voice. An example of this fear is when Reverend Msimangu says to Stephen Kumalo "I have this great fear in my heart that one day, when the white man turns to loving, he will find that we will have turned to hating." When he starts to speak, his tone of voice is sort of concerned or worried in a way. His voice is also lowered when he speaks to Stephen. The fact there is no music makes this scene very solemn. Reverend Msimangu's tone of voice portrays the fear of the future very effectively. The director demonstrates a fear of anger through facial expression and gesture/posture.
