By Denzel Nyathi<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nshort film is always a daring venture. Feature length films have the\ncoveted commodity of time to weave their story, the short has no such\nluxury. Whole worlds are to be created in a fraction of the time one\nmight spend in a cinema. Yet, to their advantage, there is something\nsatisfying about a story that unfolds succinctly and powerfully. In\nan era of instant gratification, there\u2019s no guarantee that a two\nhour Russo Brothers blockbuster might pique my interest like a 10\nminute YouTube indie film. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\njust 15 minute, Thambi Mbongo dares to venture into the busy life and\nculture of elok\u2019shini (townships) with Township Talks: The\nSuitcase<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unfortunately,\nthe reward alludes me with The Suitcase<\/em>. A short film calls\nfor a certain craft to compensate for the brevity that distinguishes\nit. Yet, it was in many of the smaller details that the film failed\nto deliver. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nfilm enticed me with a story of youth in an unspecified township\nfacing the daily struggles of institutionalised poverty. In their\nstruggle, the call to crime is an overbearing one, almost too easy to\nrespond to. Our hardworking, peanuts-and-sweets-selling, earnest\nprotagonist Tando (played by Bonani Ngamiani), eventually chooses the\npath of crime. While we\u2019re led to a degree of concern for his\nsafety and ongoing schooling career, I couldn\u2019t find it in me to\nreally dispute his decision. With a sickly grandfather and the double\nweight of blackness and poverty, it\u2019s an understandable decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nopening monologue captures the complexity of the situation as it\nstates: \u201cYes, we are poor and suffering. But we don\u2019t glorify\nsuffering.\u201d Nothing about the film glamorizes the hardships of the\ntownships through the lens of a distant white gaze (owing to the all\nblack cast and production team). While townships have historically\nbeen (and continue to be) the heartbeat of much of South Africa\u2019s\nsocial change, to throw City of Gold paint over them and call it\nbeautiful is to erase the lived hardships. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Director\nof Photography, Lwando Solani, does no such thing. Rather, the B-Roll\nfootage simply captures the hustle of life in an army of school shoes\nin one scene, and busy traffic in another. Combined with the\nsignature tune which calls to local hip hop music of earlier in this\nmillennium, there\u2019s almost something comforting about the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\npromise to not glorify the setting has a bitter after taste as it\nbecomes clearer by the minute that Mbongo, who is writer and\ndirector, over simplifies matters. While a degree of understanding is\nextended in that there is little time construct intricate storylines,\none can\u2019t help notice there\u2019s almost no relationship established\nbetween the characters at all. Tando and Mr Qhankqiso (Tando\u2019s\ngateway to a life of crime) have the lion\u2019s share of on-screen\ninteractions, and yet, even then, the relationship remains one\ndimensional. Tando is the timid, na\u00efve schoolboy. Mr Qhankqiso is\nthe rich silently scary drug lord, who commands respect. Even when\nTando raises valid concerns of being caught out at school as\nsuspicion rises, he dismisses himself and turns to praising\nQhankqiso, who \u201cknows best\u201d. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n With\nlittle time to explore other characters, their depravity is left to\nthe imagination. One fedora-wearing character plays a hilariously\nambiguous role \u2013 and seems to shoot someone at the end of the film\n(Note: I say \u201csomeone\u201d not to preserve the mystery of the film,\nbut because it is literally unclear. Also, this is not done in a\ncool, cliff hanger way). \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\none thing that seems to define all the relationships is that life is\ntough. The true antagonist of the film, Tsepo, seems to have no\njustifiable reason for being so vehemently opposed to Tando and his\nsickly grandfather. I have no choice but to assume it is because life\nis tough. The simplicity of that statement is the driving force\nwithin the film. I have no choice but to assume that Tando\u2019s\ngrandfather is there for him in the way he is at Tando\u2019s greatest\npoint of crisis because life is tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With\nno other tool to make sense of the film, the final narrated\nmonologue\u2019s challenge to consider why it is that people commit\ncrime seems to be mocking me. After having watched it twice, I can\u2019t\nhelp but think a 15 minute film containing such ambiguous\nrelationships can\u2019t afford to have there voice-over narrations.\nPerhaps more could have been achieved through greater investment in\ndialogue. Dialogue which would have allowed the actors to show off\ntheir own chops a bit more. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nall fairness, I believe we can blame Covid-19 again. Inqwelo Cinema,\nthe one production company (in collaboration with Hashtag\nEntertainment Production), shared via Facebook in January that there\nwere plans to shoot as many as four other instalments of Township\nTalks<\/em>. In March, they posted that the lockdown affected\nproduction. Perhaps with more instalments, better sense will be made\nof The Suitcase<\/em>. Certainly, cinematic and thematic parallels\ncan be drawn between hit semi-anthology TV series Intersexions<\/em>\nand what Township Talks<\/em> has the potential to be. I maintain\nhope for the bigger picture. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n Township Talks: The Suitcase is on the vNAF Fringe programme. A tickets costs just R25. Watch it <\/em>here.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Production\nCredits<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Executive\nProducer<\/strong>: Sabelo Mahlathi<\/p>\n\n\n\n Script-writer<\/strong>:\nThami aka Mbongo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cast<\/strong>:\nBonani Ngamlani, Lonwabo Ngcingci, Bandile Mbana, Andile Nodada,\nEsethu Jende<\/p>\n\n\n\n Director<\/strong>:\nThami aka Mbongo<\/p>\n\n\n\n Director\nof Photography<\/strong>: Lwando Solani<\/p>\n\n\n\n Editor<\/strong>:\nLuthando Galada<\/p>\n\n\n\n Music\n& Sound Effect<\/strong>: Pzho<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"