What you get when you mix the movie Friday with a little of Do the Right Thing and add a bit of
tsa-tsa ya Attredgeville’s iconography, SePitori
lingo and a massive untapped pool of talented actors… you get Matwetwe. Let's dig in...
Kagiso Lediga had a great 2018. His film Catching Feelings got snapped-up by Netflix and explored a little covered subject in SA: black middle class life outside the BEE bubble.
In the same year he made Catching Feelings, he swung the pendulum to the opposite end of the Catching Feelings spectrum to tell a story of the also little covered topic of South African TV and Film, Pretoria and everything SiPitori… and it’s a laugh minute…
In the driving seat are the two talented leads. I haven’t seen them in anything before this and I hope this opens doors to more gigs. There’s Lefa, the ghetto kid with promise and talent who wants to go 'varsity but he's got the typical black student problem: brains but no money. Lucky for him, he's got green fingers.
Lefa is played by Sibusiso Khwinana. Sibusiso helps to show that Lefa has layers; he is earnest, he's sweet and he's street smart.
His green fingers are what will take him to 'varsity, with the help of his best bud Papi. Think the South African American kasi boy who just happens to be albino nje… played by Tebatso Mashishi with heart and passion.
These two guys have chemistry; they do humour, they do drama and they handle it like seasoned pros. But these guys are not the only star performances.
You have the trio who act like a Shakespearean chorus reminiscent of Sweet Dick Willy and Company in Do the Right Thing.
They act as the narrators of the story but also give us entry into the world of eKasi stories associated with Pitori and the lingo with entertaining flare. They are an example of the humour and drama we are getting, the appetisers to the main course.
From the bad guys to the corrupt cops… the film is awash with Pitori iconography; such as the grilling of chicken legs to the Union Building. The iconography includes Kasi archetypes who are also steeped in Pretoria flavour.
Such as the bad guys who are ultra about their looks and clothes, to the rough girls, to the not-so-bright but cruel criminals… yet no-one drops the ball.
The performances are seamless and this is across the young ensemble.
Then there’s the music that brings in the old school kwaito sound with some of the Amapiano beats.
The movie ain’t perfect though. There are one or two narrative threads that Kagiso Lediga sets up but these don’t go anywhere. Some characters feel like they exist to pull off one gag but have no other function in the story… some of these characters feel unnecessary 'cause their stories don’t really go anywhere.
Then there’s the overall production that’s a hit and miss. At one point the film is shot like a cool edgy youth-stoner comedy, then at some points, the production falls into Mzansi Magic bioscope trappings, where the film feels like it's shot for TV on a shoe string budget - the flare and finesse is not carried through constantly on a production level.
Motheo Moeng, who also shot Catching Feelings and the classic Thina Sobabili, shows you can create beautiful images without a major budget if you are passionate about the environment and culture you're shooting. Yet the budget limitations start to show in the film as it progresses.
For something shot in Pitori, the township of guys like Mashobane - the famed bling gangster of Pitori - the film could have done more with that aspect of the thug life that makes Pitori different to most hoods.
Yet, pitched at a perfect running time of 84 minutes, the film completely embraces the youthful exuberance of Trainspotting and captures a moment in time perfectly. It may not be a perfect film but its heart and humour is in the right place.
Like we look at classic films such as Friday, Belly and Don’t be a Menace to South Central while Drinking Juice in the Hood, I think one day we will will look back at Matwetwe as one of the films that opened the door to commercial films that deal with the young and irreverent experiences of Mzansi's youthful nation.
It felt like: Friday, if it was made for the Mzansi Magic market.
Fun Trivia: Lefa’s Grandma in the movie is actually Kagiso Lediga’s mom.
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Rating
***
Index
*Trash ** Ja nee ***Ya zama-nyana ****We are vooking with gas *****Instant Classic