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Menoana e Mehlano ea Marseilles
Five Fingers for Marseilles
South Africa 2018
produced by Asger Hussain, Yaron Schwartzman, Sean Drummond, Michael Matthews, Jeff Hoffman (executive), Paulo Areal (executive), Dumi Gumbi (executive), Joshua A. Green (executive) for The Be Phat Motel Film Company, Game 7 Films, Above the Clouds, Stage 5 Films, the National Film and Video Foundation
directed by Michael Matthews
starring Vuyo Dabula, Hamilton Dhlamini, Zethu Dlomo, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso, Aubrey Poolo, Lizwi Vilakazi, Warren Masemola, Dean Fourie, Kenneth Fok, Anthony Oseyemi, Brendon Daniels, Jerry Mofokeng, Toka Mtabane, Vuyo Novokoza, Ntsika Tiyo, Sibusiso Bottoman, Abongile Sithole, Qhawe Soroshi, Garth Breytenbach
story by Sean Drummond, Michael Matthews, screenplay by Sean Drummond, music by James Matthes
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Decades ago, a bunch of pre-teen to teen youngsters formed the Five
Fingers, a gang to fight corruption, injustice and police brutality in
a way only kids can, by throwing eggs and the like, in Marseilles, their
small South African hometown in the middle of nowhere. But things got out
of hands when one of them, Tau, killed two policemen to safe a friend out
of custody. He's been on the run ever since ... Now Tau (Vuyo Dabula)
has come back, while the Five Fingers have pretty much dispersed, some
have died in their honest fight, some actually joined the police, their
former foe, and Bongani (Kenneth
Nkosi) has actually become mayor, running the city in not always the most
legal way. So in a word, Tau is not greeted with open arms ... and then
there's Sepoko (Hamilton
Dhlamini), "the Ghost", a gangster who with his gang has been
hiding in the shadows so far, but by Tau's mere presence he feels provoked
to finally make an attempt to take over town, in the most brutal manner.
And even if Tau's no traditional hero and he's as often wrong as he's
right, he's willing to pick up the fight - and is almost killed for it.
But the one thing in his favour - even if the Five Fingers have
officially dispersed, they still have their honour and loyalty towards
their cause ... It
seems weird on first sight that Five Fingers for Marseilles feels
so fresh and original, as it basically has all the hallmarks of a western,
and even if the landscape's not exactly the Old West, it's quite
impressive in its archaic nature. But storywise, this is pretty much 100%
genre material. What really makes this film so awesome though is that it
packs everything in sharp dialogue, a rich cinematic language, puts an
extra emphasis on atmosphere, doesn't shy away from crossing over into
other not remotely related genres, and plays the whole thing tense
throughout - and of course, a brilliant cast doesn't hurt one bit either. So
basically - as fresh and original as it's appealing to any self-respecting
western fan!
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