I could write a combo-review of Saak van Geloof ("A Matter of Faith") and Jakhalsdans. Both are Afrikaans dramas set in sparsely populated, small South African towns. Jakhalsdans, about a reclusive musician who comes out of hiding in support of a school fundraiser, is set in Loxton and directed by Darrell James Roodt (Yesterday, Faith’s Corner). Saak van Geloof, a religious drama about faith and family, is set in Prins Albert and directed by Diony Kempen, who produced Jakhalsdans. Both films are shot by Andrew Tolmay. Both films represent some of the worst that Afrikaans drama has to offer.
One the one hand, there’s very little to say about Jakhalsdans. It stars Theuns Jordaan and is, to my eternal shock and disbelief, written by well-regarded crime novelist Deon Meyer. It has one of the worst endings in recent memory, a slap in the face of everyone who came to see the film based on its musical promise. It’s all build-up and no pay-off. It took me three attempts to finish the film. It is tedious, badly written, cheap looking and insulting to moviegoers as well as Afrikaans music lovers. The dialogue is as solid as a Karoo rock, by which I mean that it’s heavy, lacking in colour, and that it sinks.
There’s a little more to say about Saak van Geloof, though not necessarily in a good way. Lelia Etsebeth stars as Marietjie Naude, the daughter of Kallie (Robbie Wessels) and Ella (Riana Nel). Shortly before Christmas, Marietjie tells her parents that she’s pregnant, and that the father is none other than the Holy Spirit. Soon the entire town is gossiping about their own immaculate conception while the Calvinist minister (Niekie van den Berg) attempts an intervention.
Due to their similar ages, the three main actors look like siblings; whoever cast this film must suffer from a sight impediment. Also, Nel’s performance is the worst – the worst – performance by a female actor in an Afrikaans film I have ever seen. At least Lika Berning got to occasionally look cute in Liefling, and Jakhalsdans’s Elizma Theron, while robotic, at least delivered her lines with a modicum of intent. Granted, the dialogue in Saak van Geloof is horrid. Much of it sounds made-up on the spot.
One the one hand, there’s very little to say about Jakhalsdans. It stars Theuns Jordaan and is, to my eternal shock and disbelief, written by well-regarded crime novelist Deon Meyer. It has one of the worst endings in recent memory, a slap in the face of everyone who came to see the film based on its musical promise. It’s all build-up and no pay-off. It took me three attempts to finish the film. It is tedious, badly written, cheap looking and insulting to moviegoers as well as Afrikaans music lovers. The dialogue is as solid as a Karoo rock, by which I mean that it’s heavy, lacking in colour, and that it sinks.
There’s a little more to say about Saak van Geloof, though not necessarily in a good way. Lelia Etsebeth stars as Marietjie Naude, the daughter of Kallie (Robbie Wessels) and Ella (Riana Nel). Shortly before Christmas, Marietjie tells her parents that she’s pregnant, and that the father is none other than the Holy Spirit. Soon the entire town is gossiping about their own immaculate conception while the Calvinist minister (Niekie van den Berg) attempts an intervention.
Due to their similar ages, the three main actors look like siblings; whoever cast this film must suffer from a sight impediment. Also, Nel’s performance is the worst – the worst – performance by a female actor in an Afrikaans film I have ever seen. At least Lika Berning got to occasionally look cute in Liefling, and Jakhalsdans’s Elizma Theron, while robotic, at least delivered her lines with a modicum of intent. Granted, the dialogue in Saak van Geloof is horrid. Much of it sounds made-up on the spot.
I pity the actors for having to wrestle with such bad writing, uninspired plotting and shallow characterisation. The scene where Kallie, having struggled with his faith for a while now, receives an affirmative sign from above is an unintentionally bizarre and funny scene. Miscast and misdirected, the actors stumble from scene to scene aiming at moments of serenity and profundity but arriving at absurdity and foolishness instead. Etsebeth is the only one who delivers something close to a heartfelt performance in spite of how stilted her character often comes across. And Van den Berg’s minister Botha is a clichéd mess prone to over delivery: “This … is a matter… of faith!” Spelling out its themes in capital letters, the film is too simple-minded to offend or stimulate.
I welcome any film that engages religious discourse in a serious minded, informed manner. Bringing Christian discourse into more contemporary settings can be thought provoking (see Pialat’s Under Satan’s Sun) and fascinating (Dornford-May’s Son of Man), not to mention Denys Arcand's superlative Jesus of Montreal. Anyone venturing into evangelical filmmaking surely knows the company they are in, so why produce such a bland drama? Measured against similarly themed films, Saak van Geloof, with its superficial spiritual veneer and misguided messiah motif, is plain ridiculous.
(Note: a fun way of watching a movie is to play a drinking game where you take shot of mampoer – and it has to be mampoer - whenever an extra looks into the camera.)
(Note: a fun way of watching a movie is to play a drinking game where you take shot of mampoer – and it has to be mampoer - whenever an extra looks into the camera.)
1 comment:
Uitstekende resensie. En ek wil asseblief daardie drinking game speel.
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