The Filmmakers Must Be Geniuses!

"He talks about an evil thing."

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a reassuringly unique and delightfully disarming little cinematic treasure. This low-budget 1980 South African comedy emerged virtually out of no-where; silently tiptoeing into worldwide cinemas to become one of the biggest international hits of the decade! Owing to enthusiastic word of mouth, The Gods Must Be Crazy broke box office records in Japan, South America and all over Europe, eventually developing into a cult favourite. Written, produced, directed, filmed and edited by Jamie Uys, this pseudo-documentary is fundamentally a National Geographic special infused with hysterical slapstick and amusing scenarios depicting culture clashes. With its light-hearted slapstick tone, inventive cinematic techniques and splendid locations, this is a sweet pleasure guaranteed to provide a wonderful evening of delightful entertainment.

In a nutshell: The Gods Must Be Crazy concerns the misadventures of Xixo (played by African tribal actor N!xau). The story begins with a soothing, oh-so-BBC narration describing the idyllic lifestyle of the Kalahari Bushmen. These people are a primitive race whose lives are simple and contented, and they are neither greedy nor cruel. They hunt for food, they share everything with each other, and their lives lack any sort of technology. Their blissful isolation and obliviousness is drastically disrupted when a careless airplane pilot tosses a Coca Cola bottle out the window while in flight above the Kalahari. The bottle spins elaborately to earth, landing near Xi during a hunting expedition. Believing it to be a gift from the Gods, the tribe employ this Coke bottle for dozens of uses: it becomes a fire-starter, a cooking utensil, a musical instrument, a patternmaker, and - most of all - an object of bitter controversy. The bottle generates jealously, greed and violence, igniting Xi's decision to return this evil object to the Gods by throwing it off the edge of the earth. Xi therefore embarks on a long odyssey, experiencing the civilised world for the very first time.
Meanwhile, journalist Kate Thompson (Prinsloo) accepts a remote teaching post in a Botswana school. Upon arrival, she's met by micro-biologist Andrew Steyn (Weyers) who immediately takes a liking for her.
There's also a minor problem with a terrorist leader and his gang of bandits who are being pursued by government militia. Needless to say, these separate stories become utterly intertwined by the time the film reaches its climax.

"He spoke long and earnestly to the baboon and explained, that is an evil thing you've got there, and it brought much unhappiness to my family and it will surely bring much unhappiness to yours unless you give it back to me and let me throw it away. He spoke so earnestly that the baboon began to take note and dropped the evil thing. He said, that is a very wise thing you have done."

To further expound upon the plot would be redundant exposition to the fans and churlish spoiling to those who haven't yet indulged in this filmic pleasure. The Gods Must Be Crazy is more than just a straightforward, brainless comedy; it delivers a unique, playful little story told in an utterly charming style with slapstick bowing deeply to Buster Keaton and lovely homespun humour. In no time a viewer will find themselves bathing in a delightful brew of sweet characters, appealing humour and innovative filmmaking techniques.

Part quasi-documentary, part farce, and part philosophical treatise, The Gods Must Be Crazy remains a highly original, offbeat and poignant cinematic gem. Writer-director-producer-editor Jamie Uys displays immense competence in the creation of sight gags and slapstick gags to die for. Remember the days of Charlie Chaplin and the aforementioned Buster Keaton, when physical gags were all the rage? This type of slapstick pervades this hysterical film. The more elaborate laughs necessitate a great deal of preparation, but this preparation pays off in spades! A number of sequences flaunting an indecisive jeep are especially notable in this category. Laughs are also generated through the sheer naivety of the Bushmen. For instance, they perceive cars as peculiar animals and the smoke behind a jet as flatulence of the Gods. Far better laughs are hidden within, but are far too delicious to spoil. Watch this little treat yourself, and experience the masterful humour first hand.

For additional laughs, Uys inserts feeble cinematic techniques (which may or may not be intentional). Clunky editing, dodgy special effects, and obvious reversing or speeding up of the film keeps an audience inside the joke. However, there are flaws - aside from the frequent technical faults, there are lethal problems with pacing. During the first 20 minutes in particular, mere narration is incapable of engaging an audience. It takes the best part of an hour for the best laughs to kick in, and the lead-up may test a viewer's patience. In addition, the Kalahari Desert tribe is a total fabrication - there was never an idyllic tribe of Bushmen untouched by technology, and they certainly aren't as clueless about the ways of the white man. In reality, South African civilisation had already invaded the desert. This fact unfortunately removes part of the film's gloss. In any case, the filmmakers nevertheless possessed the creativity to invent a tribe and employ a naturalistic approach to make it seem genuine.

"He never seen a wall in his life, now he got walls all around him. He gonna die for sure."

The star of the show is, of course, the cheerful N!xau as the bushman who finds life outside the desert strange and complicated. The late N!xau was a famous tribal actor, himself an outsider who lived with his three wives in Africa. During N!xau's screen-time he sports a grin that appears to say "I have no idea what's happening, but it's a lot of fun!"
Marius Weyers plays the micro-biologist who suffers nervous attacks whenever he's around Sandra Prinsloo's Kate Thompson. This premise leads to a few decent slapstick sequences, executed superbly by Weyers.

All in all, The Gods Must Be Crazy amorously blends Kalahari legend, an "East meets West" plot, a pleasant love story, and great slapstick. This delightful film is perhaps one of the best slapstick comedies since Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Plot elements may be slender, but the result really works! One could analyse The Gods Must Be Crazy from a cultural/sociological standpoint and discover a great deal of patriarchal and imperialist connotations ranging from docile to disturbing. If you're planning to waste time trekking down that particular avenue, good luck - I won't join you. To me, Uys' one-man-band film is a delightfully charming and low-key comedy that continues to entertain as much as it did when it first burst onto cinema screens a few decades ago.

Followed by a number of sequels, beginning with The Gods Must Be Crazy II.

"That morning, he saw the ugliest person he'd ever come across. She was as pale as something that had crawled out of a rotting log; her hair was quite gruesome, long and stringy and white, as if she was very old; she was very big - he'd have to take the whole day to find enough food to feed her."

7.8/10