Cry the Beloved Country

by Jason Ankeny A decade after his Oscar-winning original score to Out of Africa , John Barry returns to the African milieu for the score to Cry the Beloved Country , but to mixed results. Not only does this lush, intimate effort recall its predecessor far too closely, but its romantic sensibilities are wildly out of place in a film purporting to be a serious, tough-minded examination of apartheid. That said, this is music that boasts real beauty and power when taken solely on its own merits -- Barry's writing is richly harmonic, crafted in subdued tones that emphasize the score's vulnerability. There's no doubting the passion galvanizing Cry the Beloved Country , but there's also no denying it would have worked far better attached to a very different film.