Musical Montage: Peter Gabriel “Biko”
We’re discussing The Equalizer this week on the Everything Actioncast, but on the much more dramatic side of Denzel Washington’s filmography is the 1987 biopic Cry Freedom, directed by Richard Attenborough. Washington played Steve Biko, an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa who was killed while in police custody. Kevin Kline played reporter Donald Woods, who eventually befriends Biko after at first believing he is too radical in his approach to ending apartheid and works to expose the police’s involvement in Biko’s death. Before the movie’s release, Peter Gabriel had released the song “Biko” as a single from his 1980 album Peter Gabriel. The song was a musical eulogy/protest song and was banned by the South African government at the time, as apartheid continued until the 1990s. To help promote Cry Freedom, a live version music video was created, featuring Gabriel performing and clips from the film included throughout. The song wasn’t actually included in the movie, so the title song, “Cry Freedom” by George Fenton and Jonas Gwangwa, was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar, but “Biko” did get nominated for MTV VMA for Best Video from a Film. You can watch the music video for “Biko” below.
