The Gods Must Be Crazy
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| The Gods Must Be Crazy | |
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| Directed by | Jamie Uys |
| Produced by | Jamie Uys |
| Written by | Jamie Uys |
| Starring | N!xau Sandra Prinsloo Marius Weyers Louw Verwey Paddy O'Byrne (as narrator) |
| Music by | John Boshoff |
| Cinematography | Jamie Uys |
| Editing by | Jamie Uys |
| Distributed by | Jensen Farley Pictures (1982 - US, limited), 20th Century Fox (1984 - US, wide), Sony Pictures (DVD) |
| Release date(s) | 1980 (South Africa), 1982 (limited - USA), July 13, 1984 (wide - USA) |
| Running time | 109 min |
| Country | South Africa / Botswana |
| Language | English / Afrikaans / Ungwatsi |
| Budget | $5 million |
| IMDb profile | |
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi (pronounced 'Gee' with a hard 'G'), a Bushman of the Kalahari Desert (played by Namibian bush farmer N!xau) whose tribe has no contact with or knowledge of the world beyond. The film is followed by four sequels, the final three of which were made in Hong Kong.
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[edit] The Gods Must Be Crazy I & II
The first two films both present the Bushmen as noble savages leading a simple, fairly utopian life in contrast with western culture. There are several slapstick situations, accentuated by the use of fast motion.
These films, and the songs of Miriam Makeba, are probably the only exposure to a click consonant language for most people living outside of southwest Africa.[citation needed] Conversely, the arrival of a Coca-cola bottle thrown from a passing light aircraft represents the only exposure that the bushmen have with western culture, reminiscent of so-called New Guinean 'Cargo Cults'.
While a large Western white audience found the films funny, there was some considerable debate about its racial politics. The portrayal of Xi (particularly in the first film) as the naive innocent incapable of understanding the ways of the "gods" was viewed by some as patronising and insulting. The film was banned in Trinidad and Tobago for this reason. However, its many fans believe that it is exactly the opposite, a send-up of so-called civilization and condemnation of racism with Xi as the hero.
Some of the debate centered on Xi's reaction to the first white people he met, assuming they were gods since they were strange (he had only known Bushmen before), rode vehicles (which he also had never seen before), and were comparatively huge. However, within minutes he began doubting they were gods. The second film clearly shows Xi's greater understanding as he tells the children about the people he had met: "heavy people ... who seem to know some magic that can make things move," but are "not very bright, because they can't survive without their magic contrivances."
It should also be noted that the films' depictions of the Bushmen, even if they were accurate in the 1980s (also a source of debate), are clearly no longer accurate. The DVD's special feature "Journey to Nyae Nyae" (Nǃxau's homeland in northeastern Namibia), filmed in 2003, demonstrates this.
[edit] The Gods Must Be Crazy
The first film is a collision of three separate stories — Xi's, the romance between a klutzy scientist and a schoolteacher, and a band of terrorists on the run.
The bushmen of Xi's group are living well off the land. They are happy because the "gods" have provided plenty of everything, so no one in the tribe has unfilled wants. One day, the pilot of a passing airplane drops a glass Coke bottle. Initially, this strange artifact seems to be a boon from the gods — Xi's people find many uses for it. But unlike anything that they have had before, there is only one bottle to share among all members of the group. They soon find themselves experiencing things they never had before: envy, hatred, even violence.
It is decided that the bottle, renamed "the evil thing", must be thrown off of the edge of the world. Xi volunteers for the task. As he travels on his quest, he encounters western civilization for the first time. The film presents an interesting interpretation of civilization as viewed through Xi's perceptions.
There are also plot lines about a biologist (Marius Weyers) who is studying the local animals, and the newly-hired village school teacher (Sandra Prinsloo), and some guerrillas who are being pursued by government troops after unsuccessfully attempting a coup. Xi encounters both groups.
Xi eventually finds himself at the top of a cliff with a solid layer of low-lying clouds obscuring the landscape below. This gives Xi the convincing illusion that it is indeed the edge of the world, and he throws the bottle from there. This was filmed at a place called God's Window in what was then called the Eastern Transvaal, South Africa (now a separate province called Mpumalanga). This is at the edge of the escarpment between the high and low-velds of South Africa.
The biologist's mode of transportation is an early Series I Land Rover with no brakes and tight piston rings, making it difficult to start. Dubbed "The Anti-Christ" by his mechanic, Mpudi, the biologist's misadventures with the cantankerous Land Rover make up some of the most hilarious scenes in the film.
[edit] The Gods Must Be Crazy II
A sequel, The Gods Must Be Crazy II, was filmed in 1985 but not released until 1989. In it, Xi's two young children encounter poachers in the Kalahari and explore the back of their truck, and become unable to jump off once it starts moving. Xi must once again travel great distances to retrieve them, and once again encounters various other western characters who are on quests of their own. The film is notable for the increased role of animals throughout the story, and for its light-hearted treatment of the civil war still raging in nearby Angola at the time.
[edit] The Gods Must Be Crazy III – V
Three further low-budget and unauthorized sequels were filmed in Cantonese by Hong Kong filmmakers, and were intended as pure comedies:
- Fei zhou he shang (非洲和尚, literally: An African Buddhist Monk) (1991) (a.k.a. Crazy Safari, Vampires Must Be Crazy, or The Gods Must Be Crazy III) (Amazon.com page)
- Heonggong ya fungkwong (1993) (a.k.a. Crazy Hong Kong or Xianggang ye feng kuang (香港也瘋狂, literally: And Hong Kong Goes Crazy, Mandarin title))
- Fei zhou chao ren (非洲超人, literally: An African Superman) (1994) (a.k.a. The Gods Must Be Funny in China)
[edit] Crazy Safari (The Gods Must Be Crazy III)
An auction in the United States are pitting an ancient but still fleshy Chinese corpse for sale. It, at the enchanted command of a Taoist priest and exorcist, will become active. However, a yellow talisman with red Chinese writing must be on its forehead for the exorcist to control its every move. If not, it will become an irrepressible vampire. A young businessman purchases the corpse, for the reason that it is his great-great-great-grandfather. He needs to take him back to Hong Kong for a proper burial ceremony. With the assistance of a good-natured Taoist priest, the young descendant takes the corpse on a private jet direct to Hong Kong. The plane however malfunctions, forcing the ruthless pilot to argue and threaten the three passengers: the priest, descendant, and the immobile corpse. The priest, who is moreover a kung fu master, outsmarts him, and with the help of parachutes, jumps off safely...down to...Africa. The corpse lands in front of N!xau, where he and his tribe are facing confrontations with a rival clan led by two greedy, merciless white people. The corpse's presence scares away the villians, but only momentarily. N!xau somehow learns to control the corpse, and he takes it to his tribe. Soon he and his family thinks it is a gift from God, as it aids them in various matters. Subsequently the priest and his counterpart land in a vast and dry area miles away from N!xau's home, and they must face the dangers of lions, rhinoceros, baboons, and so forth in order to recover the corpse and leave the continent. Nevertheless the corpse forms a strong bond with the warm-hearted and compassionate N!xau and his likewise family. Even so the rival clan are still after what N!xau has as a natural abundance: diamonds.
As of 2006, these last three films have not been released in the United States, although they have been released on VCD format in China. The Gods Must Be Funny has recently been released on DVD [1] in Uys' native South Africa.
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Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1980 films | Action comedy films | Afrikaans-language films | Botswanan culture | Cult films | English-language films | Films set in Africa | Fish out of water films | South African films | Ungwatsi-language films
