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.
Review of Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema
