JERUSALEMA
South Africa, 2008, 120 minutes, Colour.
Rapulana Seiphemo, Ronny Nyakale, Daniel Buckland, Robert Hobbes.
Directed by Ralph Ziman.
Jerusalema is a traditional African song played and sung several times throughout this contemporary South African gangster story. There are references to the Psalms, especially Psalm 137, a lament for those who have forgotten the true meaning of Jerusalem. And Johannesburg, which is the setting, should have been, especially in the post-apartheid era, a new Jerusalem.
At one stage, a master gangster who trained in Russia before the fall of Communism watches a scene on TV of Michael Mann’s Heat, a truck crashing into a security van so that thieves could more easily make off with the money. The Johannesburg criminals imitate the movie, successfully but brutally and bloodily.
So, it is no surprise that the avowed intentions of the film-makers here are to construct their South African film along the lines of the Hollywood models – and show they have learned their lessons well – in staging, editing, pacing. This means that this is an effective example of the genre.
But, of course, beyond the genre and its conventions, the film is most interesting because it is based on actual characters and events. The device of a journalist interviewing the central character is familiar but it allows the story to go back to 1994, to elections, Nelson Mandela and the hope for a new beginning. But, in Soweto and the townships, despite improvements, much has not changed and the new generation of South African youth does not have as many opportunities as hoped for.
The plot focuses on Lucky Kunene who receives a University entrance but no scholarship. He starts to steal cars with a friend to help feed his family and then they are recruited to participate in that particular crime of Johannesburg, carjacking.
After ten years, Lucky is a crime boss. This time he is taking over squalid buildings from care-less owners. He settles poorer families in them and takes the rent, amassing a fortune. He also falls for a white woman. Drug deals are out for him but the police are intent on capturing him.
There is a sense of realism about the film but also, especially at the end, more than a touch of cynical observation.
1.South African history? Apartheid, whites, blacks, Afrikaaners? The history of the townships, opportunities and lack of opportunities, the heritage for black Africans?
2.The 1994 setting, the new beginnings, Mandela, the end of apartheid, freedoms, politics, opportunity? The cynical ending about the new South Africa?
3.Johannesburg, the setting, the city, the business district, Hillbrow, the slag heaps, Soweto, the life in the townships, the transition from 20th century poverty to the 21st century? The musical score?
4.The use of the film Heat, model for the film itself, acknowledging the Hollywood genre and conventions?
5.The journalist device, the range of interviews, especially with Lucky?
6.The framework: Lucky, wounded, Swart, leading the attack, the number of men involved on the attack, the number of arrests, the television and the information, weapons, cash, drugs? The end and Lucky in prison, Leah not coming to visit, the bank manager, the lawyer, the gift, the means for his getting out, the pressure on the racist guard, the feigning of the illness, getting out, well dressed, walking the streets? The cynical comment about Marx and all property being theft and Al Capone and exploitation?
7.1994, Lucky and his friend, life in Soweto, the hungry family, the girlfriend, school, university applications, his not getting a scholarship, snatching bags, getting money, feeding the family? Nazareth and his coming from Russia, recruiting the young men, the comic sequence of the awkward carjacking, getting the driver to help after counting to a hundred, their not being able to drive, their growing success, getting the credit card, getting the cash, the change in their lives, food and clothing and gifts for the family? Television etc? His relationship with the girl, kissing her, her hostile brother (and later bailing her out of jail and leaving the brother in)? Not going into school? The dangers, watching the clip from Heat, the successful robbery, the last job, Lucky and his selling petrol, Nazareth putting the pressure on him, the police arrival, Lucky being wounded, escaping?
8.The ten years passing, the Hillbrow developments, the squalid buildings, Lucky and his team, putting pressure on the white owners, doing everything legally, setting up the bank accident, a charitable fund, taking over the buildings, putting in the tenants, the growing wealth, his lifestyle?
9.The encounter with Lean, going in the car, helping her, her brother and the drugs, his clashes with the drug dealers, going to Leah’s family, the Jewish prayer, meal? His inability to go to the funeral? Lean and the sexual relationship? Hopes? The final watching of the television and her disillusionment?
10.The lawyer, his methods, confidence, his friend, working with him over the years, Nazareth, older man, his past in Russia, his killing the two men brutally?
11.Swart, character, the police, trying to get Lucky, the law and getting him off, the intensity of the confrontation, the final arrest?
12.Lucky, the interview, being autobiographical, wanting to tell the truth, telling lies – and his walking free at the end?
13.The title, Jerusalem, Israel, the new Jerusalem, Johannesburg? The traditional chant, the way that the song was used throughout the film?
