SWAZILAND FILM 'WAH-WAH' ON DSTV

I wrote in November 2007 about how the film about Swaziland called Wah-Wah had been put up on the Internet for anyone to see.

I know with the poor Internet connections we have in Swaziland this is not a very easy way to watch a movie.

So, the richer readers of this blog might be pleased to know that the movie is being shown by satellite broadcaster M-Net on DSTV from this week.

Wah-Wah was made in 2005, and is a fictionalised account of the last days of British rule in Swaziland, came out. The film, directed by Richard E Grant, is the story of his childhood in Swaziland in the1960s.

Personally, I think the film ignores the exploitation of Swazi people by the British and instead concentrates on a not very interesting story about a young British boy and his family.

The film was shot in Swaziland and there are some good views of the kingdom. The scenes of the day Swaziland received its independence are worth watching.

Because I’m a fair kind of person, I searched the Internet to find a really positive review of Wah-Wah to share with you.

I didn’t quite succeed. But I did find this on a website called Urban Cinefile from Australia

This is a platinum plated cast: Gabriel Byrne is at his best as the decent but troubled, heartbroken alcoholic, while Miranda Richardson cuts loose as his self serving wife. Emily Watson delivers a remarkable characterisation of Ruby, an American who is like a cat amongst the pigeons of England. Julie Walters and Celia Imre (she often plays Queen Elizabeth II look-alikes) are splendid as very different dames of the colony, and Julian Wadham grates just right as Charles, the stuck up oaf. But none of these are caricatures, which saves the film from a fate worse than death: boredom.

I admire how Grant's writing and direction take Africa for granted (pardon the pun) in the sense that we are spared longing long shots of landscapes and similar signs of awestruck filmmaking. He's telling a story about lives shattered, rebuilt and otherwise traversed, in a passage of time that impacts most heavily on the storyteller: puberty. Ralph's rescue is partly engineered by an early romance which is neatly and tastefully built in, while the resolution is bitter sweet - enough to make it real, yet uplifting. It's is the real thing, no wah-wah about it.

The first showing by M-Net of Wah-Wah was this week. Anyone who watches DSTV will know that the movies get repeated over and over again. So, it’s a bit like the buses to Manzini, if you missed one don’t worry there’ll be another along in a while.

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‘WAH-WAH’ ON THE INTERNET

'WAH-WAH' ON THE INTERNET

One of the annoying things about living in Swaziland (and let’s face it there are many) is that it is not easy to get hold of films about the kingdom, even though they are easily available in other parts of the world.

I wrote last Wednedsay about the award winning documentary Without the King which is doing the rounds of the world’s film festivals. It is also available to buy on DVD. But when I emailed the production company that was offering the DVD for sale on the Internet they told me they didn’t ship to Swaziland.

In 2005, a film called Wah-Wah, which is a fictionalised account of the last days of British rule in Swaziland, came out. The film, directed by Richard E Grant, is the story of his childhood in Swaziland in the1960s.

Wah-Wah, which stars many British actors, has been seen all over the world, but since we don’t have a single cinema here in Swaziland it has not been easy to see in the country of the film’s birth.

This is really a long-winded way of reporting that Wah-Wah is now available to view to anyone with a computer and a decent Internet connection.

Some enterprising person has put the film up on the video share site You Tube. (We all need to turn a blind eye to the fact that this is illegal for copyright reasons). If you absolutely must see the film this way you can click here

I’ve already seen the film myself (from a DVD I borrowed from an English friend) and I found it pretty boring. It’s set in the 1960s and is about a group of snobbish British families who mostly work in highly paid jobs who exploit the local Swazis (although the film doesn’t make this clear).

The film was shot in Swaziland and there are some good views of the kingdom. The scenes of the day Swaziland received its independence are worth watching.

Because I’m a fair kind of person, I searched the Internet to find a really positive review of Wah-Wah to share with you.

I failed. But I did find this on a website called Urban Cinefile from Australia

This is a platinum plated cast: Gabriel Byrne is at his best as the decent but troubled, heartbroken alcoholic, while Miranda Richardson cuts loose as his self serving wife.

Emily Watson delivers a remarkable characterisation of Ruby, an American who is like a cat amongst the pigeons of England. Julie Walters and Celia Imre (she often plays Queen Elizabeth II look-alikes) are splendid as very different dames of the colony, and Julian Wadham grates just right as Charles, the stuck up oaf. But none of these are caricatures, which saves the film from a fate worse than death: boredom.

I admire how Grant's writing and direction take Africa for granted (pardon the pun) in the sense that we are spared longing long shots of landscapes and similar signs of awestruck filmmaking. He's telling a story about lives shattered, rebuilt and otherwise traversed, in a passage of time that impacts most heavily on the storyteller: puberty.

Ralph's rescue is partly engineered by an early romance which is neatly and tastefully built in, while the resolution is bitter sweet - enough to make it real, yet uplifting. It's is the real thing, no wah-wah about it.

SWAZI DOCO ON TOUR

A new feature length documentary about Swaziland is presently doing the rounds of film festivals.

The 84-minute documentary, which was directed by American Michael Skolnik, had its international premiere at the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival in Toronto on 23 April 2007.

I haven’t seen the film, Without The King, myself but I can safely predict that many Swazis will find it controversial.

This is the blurb that the Hot Docs festival put out about the documentary. It’s pretty hot stuff so if you’re the nervous type I suggest you look away now.

Swaziland is Africa's last absolute monarchy and a nation at a dangerous crossroads. The people demand democracy and an end to starvation, while the king insists on banning political parties. The people want relief from a 43 per cent AIDS/HIV infection rate, the world's highest, while the king prices a fleet of luxury limousines. Against this backdrop of blatant inequality, we meet the royal family: Princess Sikhanyiso, a teenage rapper and eldest child; Queen LaMbikiza, a headstrong outsider and first of 12 wives; and King Mswati III, a distant figure out of touch with his home and country. Unprecedented access to the royals and villagers witnesses startling parallel rebellions. Terrorism and civil unrest are on the rise in the impoverished townships, where rebels will not be assuaged by the king's hollow constitutional offering, while inside the palace, an unlikely source of change makes her own plans and discoveries. The camera captures the birth of a nation's revolution, a struggle to reconcile First and Third World orders and a princess' burgeoning self-awareness in this most inspiring exposé.


I think we can safely say that Channel S won’t be showing the film anytime soon.

Without The King won the special Jury Prize at Hot Docs, but at least one film critic who saw it in Canada wasn’t impressed.

Deanna McFadden on the Chart Attack website called it ‘terribly earnest’, presenting a laundry list of many of the key problems suffered by African nations in our modern world.

She says, ‘It’s not for lack of interesting subject matter that the doc ultimately falls flat, but rather the director's stereotypical and overly heartfelt approach to filmmaking.’ She concludes, ‘Without The King is pedantic, sappy and surprisingly plain’.

If you absolutely must know more, you can see a two-minute trailer for the documentary at any one of these three websites.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o37iJhBo7VU

or

http://www.berm.co.nz/cgi-bin/video/play.cgi?o37iJhBo7VU

or

http://www.pefs.us/index.php?search=Skolnik