David R. Walker

Archive for the ‘South African Cinema’ Category

1960

Directors: King Shaft and Michael Motumbo

Cast: Zanile Madiwa, Sanda Shandu, Ivy Nkutha, Clyde Berning, Chris Gxalabla

Running Time: 1 hour and 37 minutes

Film Rating: 6.5 out of 10

1960 was the opening film of the 43^rd Durban International Film Festival https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/ held in July 2022 and is directed by King Shaft and Michael Motumbo. Set in Sophiatown in 1960 around the events of the Sharpeville Massacre of the 21^st March 1960, this musical drama focuses on the life of the young singer Lindi played by Zanile Madiwa as she escapes the shackles of her destiny in a grim apartheid South Africa and eventually escapes to go and live in Germany and then returns years later in a post-apartheid country to reconcile her past.

1960 takes place in two eras in the obvious 1960 and in 2019, when the remains of a white police officer are discovered in Johannesburg, Constable Kobus Bernard played by Clyde Berning.

The best part about 1960 is the music although the scenes set in Sophiatown in a local tavern do come across as a play rather than a film due to the excessive theatricality of the acting, however the singing is what shines through.

The characterization and dialogue is very mixed and apart from some cringe worthy scenes featuring two caricatured white madams, most of 1960 is interesting if slightly didactic as if trying to explain the events surrounding the Sharpeville massacre and the Sophiatown music scenes to a contemporary South African audience that is unfamiliar with the history.

Sanda Shandu takes on the exuberant role of Lindi’s shy love interest whose fateful meeting will forever be etched into the older Lindi’s memory as she recounts the era to a young policeman in 2019 Johannesburg. The older Lindi is played by Ivy Nkutha as she tells the young policeman never to forget what happened during apartheid.

Unfortunately 1960 will have very limited appeal beyond the borders of South Africa as the historical aspect of the film might not be as well-known internationally but as for the co-directors and writer, their aim with this film is to create more awareness about the complex issues during the Apartheid years including exile, betrayal, protest, racial segregation and fame in another country.

Co-writer Bruce Retief does a good job of tying up all the loose ends of the narrative and the true mystery surrounding the death of Constable Kobus Bernard is revealed as the older Lindi reconciles the secrets surrounding what made her famous as she pursued a musical career abroad.

While the music makes up for the lack of characterization and subtext, 1960 is an interesting film but not as brilliant as director Angus Gibson’s Back of the Moon which premiered at DIFF in 2019 and won the Best South African Feature Film that year.

Streaming audiences can catch 1960 which is available via virtual screening on the Durban International Film Festival official website https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/ until 30 July 2022 when this festival ends. Catch 1960 now and support South African cinema.

Sons of the Sea

Director: John Gutierrez

Cast: Roberto Kyle, Marlon Swarts, Brendon Daniels, Nicole Fortuin

This Film is available to watch on the DIFF 2021 website – https://www.durbanfilmfest.com/collection/features/

Please note this film has violence and strong language has not been rated yet by the South African Film and Publication board.

Afrikaans with English Subtitles

Winner of Best South African Feature Film at the 2021 Durban International Film Festival

American director John Guiterrez debuts his feature film Sons of the Sea at the 2021 Durban International Film Festival all set in Simonstown and the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa. This tightly wrought action thriller focuses on two brothers Mikhail and Gabriel played respectively by newcomer actors Roberto Kyle and Marlon Swarts, whose fraternal bond is stretched beyond breaking point when the younger brother Gabriel finds a dead foreigner in the small boutique hotel he is working at in Simonstown.

The foreigner is a Chinese man who has been stabbed and was trafficking abalone or perlemoen which is common off the rugged Atlantic coastline of the Western Cape.

Gabriel’s more violent and headstrong brother Mikhail convinces him that it is a brilliant idea to steal the abalone so that they can resell it. Soon a corrupt government official Peterson is onto their trail. Peterson is played by another screen newcomer Brendon Daniels. Peterson has his own worries to deal with, with a drunken mother-in-law and a young son to take care of.

Gabriel mistakenly confides his secret find to his girlfriend Tanya played by Nicole Fortuin (Flatland). Gabriel’s job at the boutique hotel and his naïve dream of becoming a photographer is shattered when Peterson starts chasing him and his brother Mikhail as they head out of Kalk Bay area over the mountainous Cape of Good Hope region where tragedy strikes.

Writer and director John Gutierrez has a firm grip on the action genre although some of the scenes are messy and he does not provide sufficient back story about the characters or about the larger issue of abalone poaching which is an ongoing problem in the Western Cape.

Gutierrez fails to contextualize the action within the broader city landscape of Cape Town, which is massive and diverse. The actors do a good job in the three respective leads and Sons of the Sea is a proudly South African film.

Sons of the Sea is a tightly wrought action film which focuses on the brother’s relationship and how Gabriel’s find leads him and his sibling into deeper trouble.

Sons of the Sea gets a film rating of 7 out of 10 and is worth seeing, it’s light on characterization but heavy on suspense. Recommended Viewing