The Chiz : movies

Catch District 9

David — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 06:33:05 GMT

So, District 9 opens in South Africa today. Trust me there is no good reason NOT to see this film! It is awesome!

O, so yes, it is a sci-fi fliek which if course is already putting loads of people off. But for us as South Africa’s it is way more than that. It is parable, allegory, myth building and soul searching all rolled into one.

Let’s just start with what it looks like. It is shot in almost a hand held, documentary style that gets you right up into the face of the action and the characters. A film crew tracks Wickus Van De Merwe through the film, recording his mission. It is nervy and tense and you do leave the cinema feeling like you have been in a fire fight. That’s what I love. What other sci-fi film can you remember that puts you so full face and frontal in the action?

Hen there is what it sounds like. Man, Township music, South African language, swearing continuously in Afrikaans… Man it rocks! Admittedly it takes a while to get used to hearing your own accent on a screen when you’re so used to those Americans, but once you get over that, you sink into an eerily familiar world. Yup, right down to the Nigerian gangs!

The cast is great too. Vanessa Haywood and Charlto Copley are really believable as the principle couple and the prawns, for all their weirdness, work! Despite the fact that this is a pretty serious film, you kind of get a sense that everyone had fun making it. The performances are that comfortable.

Then the content. Well, obviously for us, it’s a re-casting of District Six, forced removals and the apartheid mentality, the xenophobic attacks and most of our very chequered history. The thing is film maker Blomkamp doesn’t so much dissect one thing as plunge into many things which set your head to reeling and free associating. Once question you must come out of this movie with is, “How much have things changed?” Are we all not just prejudiced at heart? Protecting what we hold dear against ANY difference? Is that not the human condition? (sic!)

I am sure if you conducted an in-depth socio political analysis of the story, you’d find lots on inconsistencies and perhaps even contradiction. But this is also a tale of redemption and is NOT a historical document.

District 9 perfectly captures the sense of mania that living in Johannesburg can entail. By jamming real aliens into the mix, it also reveals the isolation and fear of living in a big city, but welds it with pure human moments of change, and growth.

In short this is a great film, and I am not surprised the Americans lived it... And wow, the aliens came to Joburg, Not LA, who woulda thought?
Just be warned that it is pretty violent and gory! Those alien weapons are hectic bru!
But make sure you see it! This is a big film. For us, for Blomkamp, for everyone in it!

District 9

David — Thu, 21 May 2009 07:56:09 GMT

Thirty years ago, aliens made first contact with Earth. Humans waited for the hostile attack, or the giant advances in technology. Neither came. Instead, the aliens were refugees, the last survivors of their home world. The creatures were set up in a makeshift home in South Africa’s District 9 as the world’s nations argued over what to do with them.

Now, patience over the alien situation has run out. Control over the aliens has been contracted out to Multi-National United (MNU), a private company uninterested in the aliens’ welfare – they will receive tremendous profits if they can make the aliens’ awesome weaponry work. So far, they have failed; activation of the weaponry requires alien DNA.

The tension between the aliens and the humans comes to a head when an MNU field operative, Wikus van der Merwe (Sharlto Copley), contracts a mysterious virus that begins changing his DNA. Wikus quickly becomes the most hunted man in the world, as well as the most valuable – he is the key to unlocking the secrets of alien technology. Ostracized and friendless, there is only one place left for him to hide: District 9.

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

Produced by                Peter Jackson
                    Carolynne Cunningham
Executive Producers        Ken Kamins
                    Bill Block
                    Paul Hanson
                    Elliot Ferwerda

Cast Sharlto Copley
David James

Eating Rabbits

David — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 03:36:48 GMT

So, I went off to go and see Bunny Show last night. And I must admit I left the cinema with very mixed feelings about what I had just witnessed.

The film is shot entirely in black and white, with a beautiful eye on grain and detail. Some of the framing and the overall cinematography was just amazing. The detail, the vision, the complete actualisation on screen of the modern Johannesburg and what it looks like. Compelling and quite beautiful. I am also reliably informed that it was very well put together, that is: edited.

But something was amiss.

And in the post movie diagnoses, I realised what it was. The first problem I had is with the narrative style. Well, I am calling it style but I am not sure. Told in a series of very short skit like scenes, the movie jumps forward in erratic bounds and turns. In some cases this works very well as an obvious extension of the chaotic lives of the protagonists, the three comedians, and ion other cases it is none too clear at all. The story is clear enough: 3 comedians are out to make their names. They decide that hitting Oppikoppi rock festival is an essential part of this and head off to the festival. Along the way they experience personal encounters and revelations which may or may not change them. It’s quiet simple. But the deviation from the plot and the asides in some cases left me reeling and feeling that a common story thread was not always being followed.

The second problematic area was characterisation. The 3 comics are pretty well realised and easy to follow and their actions seem justified and true. Mainly one suspects because they were just playing themselves. But both the girlfriend characters were poorly and stereotypically sketched, and as a result lacked believability or desirability. And a lot of the peripheral characters were nothing more than caricatures. While this at first glance may not seem important in a film dominated by the three central characters, it means that weight and credence that could have been loaned to the whole by the contributing characters is totally absent, resulting in an overall think feeling for me.

Thirdly was the sound. Often dialogue was just lost. And this was primarily for two reasons. One was that often you could hear the original sound recording was just of very low quality and clearly not be rescued in the post production facility. Secondly, the actors themselves were often eating the last syllables of their lines and rushing them to conclusion, leaving out whole words and syllables. The result was a series of scenes and gags which could have been great but which, due to being inaudible, were just odd.

As themselves, Kagiso, Joey and David are great. There are some side-splittingly funny moments, and everyone will recognise a host of Jozi and Oppikoppi in-jokes. All of the local flavour has been carefully preserved and served up nicely for a South African audience. This is one local film that is not deserting the local audience in favour of an international one. It is shot beautifully and makes intelligent use of a great local soundtrack to link themselves and scenes together. Visually it is a festival of delights. But as to the rest, well I recommend you see it yourself. I found some parts opaque and alienating, due to technical and script deficiencies, but I also found other parts to be rich, hilarious and very well executed. I do feel for sure though, that the guys did an amazing job in pulling a project like this together and hope that this is not their first and last effort.

horror fest!

David — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 03:07:37 GMT

wah wah wah wah wah

David — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 05:21:49 GMT

The Title of this Richard E Gant written and directed movie is hardly one to inspire confidence. And if you are not an art movie buff, you would probably consider swerving it entirely. But if you are a South African, grew up anywhere near apartheid and have more than half a brain, then you really do need to see this film.

Vist the Official WAH WAH site here

Richard E Grant was born and raised in Swaziland (hence this film being featured in this blog, I reckon it s as close as I am gonna get right now to SA movies!) and the film centres around his experiences as a school child and adolescent. Ever since “How To Get Ahead in Advertising” I have though that Richard was some kind of acting genius… after seeing Wah Wah I am sure he is a director of massive talent and a gifted writer to boot.

The film deals mainly with the experiences of the young Richard in Swaziland as his parents divorce and he grows up. It’s poignant, powerful and achingly beautiful. There are so many sub texts and directions that you might think the viewer would be lost. But the common thread of the young Ralphie (Richard) in each and every scene sews it all neatly up and brings to life the clear and total point of view of the young protagonist. The subjects of racism, sexuality, gender politics, alcoholism, love and more are all explored. But the key is the deft and subtle touch that Grant brings as a director. So many of the emotionally charged scenes could have come across as trite, condescending or schmaltzy, but instead they are moving, layered and revealing.

The viewer is not once left with the feeling that something inexplicable or larger than life is occurring. Rather you are sucked into the narrative as into a good book, and the story comes alive with vivid acting and clear scripting. Gabriel Byrne as Richard’s father delivers an impeccable, emotional performance: deep, considered and very skilful. Miranda Richardson and Emily Watson as respectively Richard's mother and step mother, both deliver utterly believable performances, despite the fact that both would have been so easy to stereotype. And that tells the story of the film... its skirts the familiar and the well known so easily, without ever falling into impersonal stereotypical portrayals or language.

I don’t really know how well such a film will be or is being interpreted by an American audience. But I am sure that to all nations acquainted with British colonialism, like India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada; it will strike a chord and ring a true sounding bell. This is powerful and poignant stuff, and I can only recommend that you get on down to see it as soon as possible.
Actually, I would really like to see Richard E Grant touring here to promote the film… we are without doubt the biggest sub Saharan market for the film, it would be great to have him talk about the film to a live audience!

So, you wanan see the movie? Well click here to go to the Ster Kinekor new and much improved site!