Malunde (2001)
Post-apartheid South Africa is the setting for this drama about a mismatched twosome who end up together on a life-altering journey to Cape Town. Polar opposites Kobus (Ian Roberts), a white ex-soldier who struggles with demons from his past, and Wonderboy (Kagiso Mtetwa), a young black street kid who clings to memories of his family, come together to take on the society that has cast them aside and eventually build a friendship for the ages.
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Waste of time
Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
"Malunde" is an odd-fellows buddy/road movie that features a disaffected middle-aged white South African and an 11 year-old black child of the streets.It kicks off in confusion and excitement, builds steam and pays off with a terrific emotional wallop at the end.It features incandescent performances by the two leads, on an impromptu backroad journey from Johannesburg to Capetown, in varied settings and difficult situations. A sense of menace hovers throughout, though the tenuous bond formed between the two principals grows stronger over time.It has a fabulous score of South African music and is a joy to look at (gloriously filmed in wide-screen by Wim Wenders' DP). The audience loved it as I did.