A different Zululand movie
HEY, here we go for setting up our own little Hollywood. The other day I was privileged to take in a private viewing of a movie conceived and shot in Zululand by two local lads. (Reviewed in our Goodlife supplement last Friday).
The Killing Floor was written by Phil Gardner, Eshowe born and bred (and a lot more level-headed than his dad who I was at school with) and produced by his business partner, Andrew Cassells, who won a 2003 Durban International Film Festival award for Shooting Bokkie, judged Best South African Film. The Killing Floor is being distributed world-wide by Anant Singh's Video Vision.
The title comes from the blues number, The Hard Time Killing Floor, and a gritty blues soundtrack gives backing to what is not the usual historical/cultural theme of a Zululand setting but a dark comedy touching on the human frailties – all within a crafty and highly unusual plot.
Melvin Poon, played by Jonathan Pienaar (of Blood Diamond fame) is a Zululand sugar farmer who has discovered he is really a talented writer, but has gone to pieces in the effort to get himself published and recognised.
Pienaar's portrayal of the obsessively hard-drinking, chain-smoking Poon – backed by some superbly atmospheric close-up cinematography – is powerfully realistic. In fact Poon reminds me of just about every Zululander I've ever known.
Patrick Ndlovu, who played Sizwe Moloi in the SABC1 drama series Zone 14, is Poon's conscientious farm induna who struggles to save his employer from his excesses and save the sugar farm from ruin. A feature of this movie is the use of both Zulu and English dialogue, where appropriate, with English sub-titles.
The yarn has a twist in the tail. And – to return to the cinematography – Zululand's scenic splendours combine with the blues soundtrack to produce a powerful sense of mood.
The movie will go on the festival circuit. Is this the start of more to come? Will the old Natal Command site become our mini-Hollywood or Pinewood? Are we going to challenge the Western Cape for primacy in the film world? Nothing much has happened since Zulu and Zulu Dawn (overseas productions) put this region on the world map all those years ago.
Gardner and Cassells say we're going to get our share. KwaZulu-Natal's scenery, history and cultural richness make it a natural setting.
That's good. I'm available from next week to audition for Tarzan.
Leopards, buffaloes
INVESTMENT analyst Dr James Greener notes in his latest grumpy newsletter that a fellow was taken off a plane here in Durban only after he had boarded. He had checked through seven suitcases stuffed with many millions in South African currency.
"This raises a few questions including what the X-ray image of that sort of luggage looks like and if anyone looked at it. Another is where in the world is there a bank teller prepared to accept without question a very large number of leopards and buffalos, as our two largest denomination notes are affectionally called?
"Perhaps the answer to the second question lies in the fact that the plane was going to Dubai where Number One's best friends have built a luxury home."
Greener also asks if there is any substance to the rumour that five South African taxi drivers have applied to fill the seat at Mercedes vacated by Nico Rosberg?
Koalas
NATURE notes. Koalas spend 99% of their life eating and sleeping and the other 1% they spend looking for a mate, when they wander round aimlessly until they find one. If they don't find one, eventually they just go back to sleep.
And very sensible too.
Tailpiece
STUDENTS in an advanced biology class were taking their mid-term exam. The last question was: "Name seven advantages of Mother's Milk".
A student wrote:
1. It is perfect formula for the child.
2. It provides immunity against several diseases.
3. It is always the right temperature.
4. It is inexpensive.
5. It bonds the child to mother and vice versa.
6. It is always available as needed.
But then he was stumped. Finally, in desperation and just before the papers were collected, he wrote:
7. It comes in two attractive containers and is high enough off the ground so the cat can't get it.
He got an "A".
Last word
Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
No comments:
Post a Comment