JAKHALSDANS
DIRECTOR: Darrel Roodt
CAST: Theuns Jordaan, Elizma Theron, Christina Storm, Neil Sandilands, Janke Bruwer
CLASSIFICATION: PG
RUNNING TIME: 96 minutes
RATING: *****
A sweet little love story set in the dusty Karoo, Jakhalsdans is more to be admired for intent than execution.
Directed by Darrel Roodt, who again displays his innate sense of narrative and eye for detail, the film is let down by its ending. Up until that point, though, you will find yourself immersed in small-town life.
Schoolteacher Mara (Theron) relocates to Loxton so she can raise her daughter in a rural environment. Having vested her life savings in this venture, she is horrified to discover that the school is closing down, unless they can raise a lot of money. Hence her idea to hold a concert of Afrikaans pop singers. Unbeknown to her, her next-door neighbour is actually the reclusive singer-songwriter, Ruan Landman (Jordaan).
Janke Bruwer, who plays Mara's little daughter, Mia, is a natural, totally out-acting the wooden Theron in every scene they share.
Mia strikes up a friendship with the initially taciturn neighbour, and years of watching Hollywood movies of the same ilk will tell you exactly what's going to happen next with Deon Meyer's script.
What saves the film, though, are the colourful characters and the lyrical cinematography (you can practically hear the silence singing which, if you know the Karoo, really happens).
Neil Sandilands constructs an engaging troubadour in Dawid le Fleur, the town handyman afraid of commitment. He creates an anchor for the film as he is forever dancing around teacher Vanessa Ruiters (Christina Storm holds her own, creating a small-town girl with a penchant for too much make-up and a mind of her own).
Jordaan will bring in the fans as he simply plays himself, and anyone who has even a passing fancy for Afrikaans music will love the musical scenes (if you haven't realised, he's the one who does the really amazing covers of Koos du Plessis's material).
This is also where the film eventually falls flat because it builds you up to the point where you're expecting a wonderfully huge concert, but the money shot simply does not materialise and it feels like the story's gone nowhere.
You never really get a sense of the school - the whole point of all the machinations on the part of Mara - either.
Filmed on basically no budget in only 10 days, Jakhalsdans may have profited from a different ending altogether. However, the film's merit lies in the fact that it was actually made at all. Kudos to the filmmakers for making a local film that we can all identify with - plus it's just so cute, Afrikaans style.
If you liked ... Meisie ... you will like this.