Forgiveness is one of the most underrated propositions of all time. That’s too bad. It has the power to liberate us from the prison house of fear. It can open us up to new possibilities. Forgiveness clears away a space in the heart for compassion and hope. It enables us to loose our love upon the world.

As D. Patrick Miller reminds us, "Forgiveness is not mere sympathy, nor condescension, nor forced generosity. It is the ultimate declaration of equality, founded on the recognition that all crimes are the same crime, every failing the human failing and every insult a cry for help."

Cry, the Beloved Country (1995) is based on Alan Paton's classic 1948 novel set in South Africa. Screenplay writer Ronald Harwood has brought this heralded work of art to the screen with its simple eloquence intact. Although this drama speaks out forcefully against apartheid and in favor of human rights, its real thrust is on a more intimate level of personal transformation. Here is a portrait of two anguished fathers and their refusal to despair in the face of terrible grief. For them, forgiveness forges a path to reconciliation.

This guide is organized around some of the major themes of Cry, the Beloved Country including fathers and sons, faith, fear, the gift of tears, local heroes, prayer, and forgiveness.

Cry, the Beloved Country runs 106 minutes and is rated PG-13. For our review of the film and a plot synopsis, click here

Cry, the Beloved Country


1. FEAR

"Fear," according to Russian writer Boris Pasternak, "has the largest eyes of all."

  • Racial hatred often can be traced back to fear. Share your reactions to the opening scene in the film where a little black girl looks at James Jarvis in terror as he rides by her on a horse.
  • A quotation by Alan Paton, which is on the screen at the end of the film, speaks of "the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear." How are these two depicted throughout this drama?
  • What spiritual resources have helped you combat fear in your daily life?

2. FATHERS

"The relationship between father and son is one of the toughest things in the world to break down," poet William Carlos Williams once wrote. "It seems so natural and it is natural — in fact, it's inevitable — but it separates as much as it joins."

  • How would you describe the relationship between Stephen Kumalo and his son Absalom? Do they have anything in common? What has put Arthur and James Jarvis on such different paths?
  • Have you ever suffered the pain of wondering why you failed someone you loved? What was the situation and how have you dealt with it?

James Earl Jones as Kumalo

3. FAITH

"Faith," according to Samuel H. Miller, "faces everything that makes the world uncomfortable — pain, fear, loneliness, shame, death — and acts with compassion by which these things are transformed, even exalted."

  • Kumalo's bishop says of him, "He's the only truly good man I've ever met." What Christian virtues does he demonstrate in this drama? Would you want him as your minister? Why or why not?
  • In what ways has your faith enabled you to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and come out on the other side with new meanings?

4. TEARS

In Covenant of the Heart, Valentin Tomberg writes that “tears have a purifying, rejuvenating and light-bearing power and capability — this was known by the masters of spiritual life: the hermits, monks, and members of spiritual orders in the past. 'The gift of tears' was highly esteemed by them. . . . And just as the moving waters precede the appearance of the rainbow in the primeval light, so does weeping precede the rainbow of illuminating light in the soul."

  • Discuss the role "the gift of tears" plays in the life and ministry of Stephen Kumalo.
  • How have your tears purified you or watered a part of you that needed to grow?

Richard Harris as James

5. LOCAL HEROES

"The atmosphere of compassion that transforms a mass of alienated individuals into a caring community is created by countless acts of kindness and charitable foresight,” Sam Keen writes in Hymns to an Unknown God. “And the dreams of heroic love are usually performed on small stages; the names of local heroes and consecrated neighbors are known only within their towns and villages.

  • What does James Jarvis learn about the heroic stature of his son when he visits with a teacher at the club for young black youth?
  • Name a local hero who like Arthur Jarvis has "a brightness" within him or her. How has this individual changed you or the community where you live?

6. PRAYER

Lutheran theologian Helmut Thielicke has observed: "The globe itself lives and is upheld by Atlas arms through the prayers of those whose love has not grown cold."

  • Discuss Stephen Kumalo as not only a man of prayer but as a Christian whose life is a living prayer.
  • Talk about how you try to make your prayers ones that lend ballast to the lives of others and uphold the globe itself.

7. FORGIVENESS

"Forgiveness," Lewis B. Smedes has written, "is love's revolution against life's unfairness. When we forgive, we ignore the normal laws that strap us to the natural law of getting even and, by the alchemy of love, we release ourselves from our painful pasts."

  • What do you think softens James Jarvis's heart and enables him to become a forgiving person instead of a racist in the grip of hate?
  • How does Father Kumalo experience the healing balm of forgiveness?
  • Do you think that forgiveness is undervalued in our culture? How do you explain this?
  • Share a story of your experience of forgiveness.

Cry, the Beloved Country


This guide is one in a series of more than 200 Values & Visions Guides written by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Text copyright 2001 by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Photos courtesy of Miramax Pictures. This guide is posted as a service to visitors to www.SpiritualityandPractice.com. It may not be photocopied, reprinted, or distributed electronically without permission from Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat — except it may be duplicated for use by groups participating in the e-course "Going to the Movies as a Spiritual Practice." For other uses and for a list of guides in the Values & Visions series and ordering information, email your name and mailing address to: brussat@spiritualrx.com.