KNYSNA
DIRECTOR: Andre Velts
CAST: Neels van Jaarsveld, Marguerite Wheatley, Julie Strijdom, Juanita de Villiers, Shaleen Surtie-Richards, Morne du Toit, Terence Bridgett, Cintaine Schutte
CLASSIFICATION: 10-12 PG L
RUNNING TIME: 104 minutes
RATING: 2 stars (out of 5)
Theresa Smith
IN A year of some pretty decent local films, Knysna feels like such a step backwards.
The rom-com follows a very obvious three-act storyline, which wouldn’t be a problem if the characterisation was good and the jokes were spot on.
Unfortunately, director Andre Velts doesn’t get much out of his cast, with even poor (so totally underutilised) Neels van Jaarsveld floundering around the Knysna marsh, fishing for a life-line.
Joke-wise, scriptwriter Emile Hager hasn’t given anyone much to work with either. Except himself – he plays one of the characters who gets a good, cutting scene as a local pretending to be a Frenchman. Unfortunately, everyone else seems to get the clichéd dialogue.
Van Jaarsveld is Dolf, a line fisherman with a pool cleaning sideline. He lives a simple life, hanging out with his fellow vleirotte (marsh rats) on the Knysna lagoon.
Younger brother James (Kaz McFadden) can’t remember to finish his chores and drools over porn with Dolf’s dippy best friend Reynard (Morne du Toit), which they get courtesy of sarcastic Antoinette (de Villiers) who works at the adult shop. And let’s not forget repressed little conventional Bloesie (Cintaine Schutte) who has her little-girl crush on Dolf.
Cue the meet-cute and into Dolf’s life steps Stephanie (Margeurite Wheatley), who is staying in a mansion up on the hill, or rather The Heads as the super-rich area in Knysna is known.
Next comes the extended travel montage of couple stepping out around the seaside town to a super cheesy Afrikaans duet and then, dum dum da… turns out she is not what she seems to be and can his inferiority complex handle it?
Romantic comedies are not only a Hollywood staple, but they are the backbone the Afrikaans film scene is building itself around. For every nuanced drama like Die Wonderwerker or clever, surreal Die Windpomp, there are five rom-coms bolstering the box office.
If you want to make money from a local film released on the local circuit, think about using Afrikaans because if it is not a slapstick Leon Schuster, who else is your loyal market?
But, does that really mean we have to get every cliché thrown at the screen every time?
Stereotypes come about because they mirror real personality types – yes, these types of people do exist, but when it comes to the big screen they only become interesting and, above all, realistic when you show them to more than just a collection of characteristics.
The leading man’s best friend must be just a tad skeezy (to make the leading man look better, you understand). Hang on, what about the older demographic? They should remember Julie Strijdom and Flip Theron, so cast them as the grandparents.
Oh look, we needed some colour, let’s get Terence Bridgett to play a moffie and Shaleen Surtie-Richards to back him up with a quip. The feature has no dramatic tension and, come on, this is the fourth local film this year to use the same interrupted wedding device.
This could have been an interesting critique on classism and social pressure, but instead it is a by-the-numbers rom-com that screams “Hollywood in Afrikaans”.
Knysna is in Afrikaans with English subtitles. If you liked, Ek Lief Jou or Klein Karoo, you will like this.