Gods Must Be Crazy

Year: 1980

Grade: B+

Country: South Africa

Director: Uys

Review

it really is a gem. the comedy is mostly slapstick in nature and, even though there isn’t all that much of it, it’s definitely funny. despite having only spurts of comedy, the film stays interesting throughout because the plot and other themes are robust enough to hold the audiences attention. it’s predominately a comedy, but it is also part romance and part social commentary. the romance aspect of the film falls, more or less, into the comedy genre convention. a hapless hero ends up saving a woman and, despite his being a klutz, they fall in love. the social commentary portion is what, to me, really makes the film a classic. the film comments on both the hilarity and arbitrary nature of our technological society. we create tools to help us live an easier life, but as a result we have to go to school for 12 years of our lives just in order to learn how to live. we, the audience, see how silly our civilized lives are by viewing it through the eyes of xixo (the protagonist) who is completely cut off from society until a coke bottle lands at his feet. the introduction of this one-of-a-kind object into his small village leads to heretofore unknown problems – greed, the idea of property, envy, violence, etc. in contrast to the bushmen of the kalahari desert, we look like utter fools who live an illogical life of contradictions. in addition to all of the above, there is another plotline interwoven into the story. we also follow a band of revolutionaries on the run from the government officials they just tried to murder. it may seem out of place, but it works to move along the plot, show a bit of contemporary african society, and provide further contrast to xixo’s increasingly attractive simple life.