Rating: ***
Directed by Oliver Schmitz, with Tony Kgoroge, Rapulana Seiphemo, Makhaola Ndebele and Moshidi Motshegwa.
Predictable plot but some realistic performances.
Hijack Stories, written and directed by Oliver Schmitz, take us to the underworld of Soweto where a young actor, Sox Moraka (Tony Kgoroge) from a comfortable middle-class background wants to land a lead role in a television series.
The problem is he is not in touch with hijacking so he fails his audition. Determined to land the role, he hooks up with a childhood friend, Zama (Rapulana Seiphemo), a hardcore gangster, and asks him to show him the ropes. His eagerness takes him to places he has only heard of and eventually the line between what seems and what is becomes blurred.
The plot is predictable and degenerates into a Hollywood car-chasing-gun-toting exhibit.
The movie's strong point, however, is the gradual development of characters within an environment ostensibly free but piercingly riddled with crime.
The realistic performances by the leads are refreshingly young. Kgoroge is a convincing good boy who is seduced by the adrenalin charges of hijacking and lawlessness and Seiphemo and Motshegwa are credible co-protagonists who fit snugly into their surroundings.
Schmitz, famous for his 1988 film Mapantsula, has done well in capturing the essence of what is perhaps a realistic take on the challenges facing those living in townships, and the commentary on the class divide in the new South Africa is there but conceivably too underdeveloped.
As it stands though one is convinced there is hope for South African feature filmmaking, and one knows the stories of the people of this country are so ready to be told. Stories such as Hijack Stories are so ripe, they are about to fall off the trees.