Sick Product of a Sick System

Awesome Movie

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

A South African Scarface but with a far more likable lead who does whine constantly when he doesn't get his way like Tony Montana did, and overall less of an a-hole lol.Anyway it's a definitely above average gangster-epos amazingly enough done with just 2 million dollars, it doesn't look cheap by any means.Compare that with for instance 'PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009)' which cost 50 times more at 100 million dollars, sure that was filmed in the US and had a all star Hollywood cast but this movie is still a bit better on most levels and if it is that cheap to make movies in South Africa then more people should do it.Good performances all around, yeah nothing to really complain about.The movie mixes English with Afrikaans, about 50/50 each or a stronger lenience towards English.It didn't blow me away in the same way 'TSOTSI (2005)' did when it came out but considering that that is one of my favorite movies it would be surprising if it did, still more than well worth a watch though.

JERUSALEMA investigates the spirit of the individual to assert himself against both the system ad poverty. This film explores concepts of law enforcement in a country whose people have suffered oppression at the hands of police. The film tells the story of a self made entrepreneur from the slums of Soweto, his motto, crime really pays in the new South Africa. Freedom is slavery now, revolutions bring new order and they also bring opportunity. Might is right and possession is none tenths of the law. Welcome to the promised land, a new Jerusalem! The film by Ralph Ziman is based on real events and goes against what has become predictable. Ziman offers us an unusual insight into what has often been called the crime capital of the world. Hillbrow, inner city Johannesburg, demonstrates the beauty and barbarity of a new paradise. The director gives an unbiased view of the contemporary landscape, which most South Africans are aware of, but turn a blind eye. The director remains neutral, impartial, without resorting to stereotypes or over simplifications. He describes a city as it is, without no attempt to gloss over the grit. This is a complex, multi layered view of South Africa post apartheid. It casts a fresh eye on the recent manifestations of xenophobia. Beautiful photography, haunting music and excellent acting by a cast of unknowns. Recommend.

This film was such a disappointment. It sensationalizes crime, celebrates materialism, denigrates Black Africans in general, debases Black women in particular, and glorifies Whites in the same subliminal ways that are so prevalent in Hollywood. As "entertainment" it merely serves to perpetuate all that is bad about South Africa today. I am totally bewildered by those who claim it is better than Tsotsie. No, it is a cheap, trashy, commercial, gangster movie with no morally redeeming value at all. That said, the acting was good, as were some of the technical aspects of the very violent scenes. But the violence was way too gratuitous, as was the excessive footage of half-naked Black women hanging out in the Nigerian drug dealers' den. Sadly, the fact that so many young South Africans seem drawn to the film says more about the present state of social and political consciousness of young South Africans than about the quality of the film.

DIRECTOR Ralph Ziman's vivid, action-packed South African gangster epic makes for exciting big screen entertainment. Highly commercial and hardly politically correct, but reeking with authenticity, the aptly and ironically titled "Jerusalema" offers cinema-goers the same sort of tough, high-energy thrills as crime epics like "Scarface", "American Gangster" and "City of God". Unlike "Tsotsi", it's not out win awards, or to preach about the struggle. It's out to please crowds. Yet, while telling a strong, funny, gripping, well-acted story of a young gangster's rise to power, it also manages to paint a devastating picture of how and why crime has spiraled out of control in the new South Africa. Telling its tale on a broad canvas, it begins in Soweto in the early 1990s, introducing the audience to two teenage boys, Lucky Kunene (Jafta Mamabolo) and his best friend Zakes (Motlatsi Mahloko). Lucky is an intelligent, ambitious youngster from a poor single parent home who is accepted into university. He doesn't, however, get a bursary, so he tries to earn money through various legitimate schemes. None of which succeed. Eventually he and Zakes are sucked into crime though their relationship with Nazareth (a potent Jeffrey Sekele), an angry disaffected, former ANC guerilla. And soon they're hijacking cars ("affirmative repossession", says Nazareth). But, after a botched robbery and a near fatal encounter with the police, the lads must flee to the "jungles" of Hillbrow. Cut to five years later. Lucky and Zakes (now played by Rapulana Seiphemo and Ronnie Nyakale) are operating a pirate Taxi and scraping by. It's a dangerous life and when armed rivals steal their taxi, Lucky decides to return to crime. "Jeruselema" might shock some middle-class viewers, but it is riveting fare and the crowd I saw it with clapped and cheered along with the action. The charismatic Seiphemo delivers a stunning performance - turning Lucky into a surprisingly sympathetic anti-hero, and he's superbly supported by Nyakale, Sekele and a devilish Malusi Skenjana, who plays a slimy Nigerian drug dealer. Then there are the great action scenes and the powerful underlying themes. This vibrant, violent, colorful, authentic crime thriller, which pays homage to Michael Mann's classic, "Heat" heralds a new dawn in South African film-making and is highly recommended to audiences looking for top notch entertainment.