Leon Schuster is at it again. His new cinematic outing is hopelessly amateurish. There are a few laughs, but you’ll leave the movie with little self-respect.
Leon Schuster has, by all accounts, made a small fortune from his comedy films over the years. While they are generally reviled by critics, his efforts are remarkably popular with audiences. In fact Schuster is probably the only South African filmmaker to actually turn a profit since Jamie Uys (The Gods Must be Crazy).
At the premiere of Oh Schuks, an acquaintance proffered the explanation that Schuster’s movies, “allow us to laugh at ourselves”. As much as South Africa needs a good giggle at itself, it’s a pity that the jokes are squeezed into such an embarrassingly amateurish package.
Oh Schuks, I’m Gatvol’s messy plot revolves around a candid camera filmmaker (Leon Schuster) and his sidekick Alf (the ghoulish Alfred Ntombela), who, having completed their new film, decide that they are “gatvol” (fed up) with the country, and decide to emigrate to Australia. (The film offers up the inevitable parade of hijacking, robbery and street corner hobo jokes).
Thrown into the mix is a Sadam Hussein style mini-despot called Samoosa Woestyn (appropriately performed by Gerry “The Clown” Blamey) freshly arrived in South Africa, from ‘Afkaq’, to assassinate George Bush at a global summit. He inadvertently reveals his plans in one of Schuks’ candid camera setups and, determined to get the tape back, he and his henchman (Bill Flynn), board a flight to Sidney with Schuks and Alf. More mayhem ensues.
Leon Schuster may be a passable comedian, with a knack for setting up candid camera scenarios, but he is no filmmaker. Choosing to co-direct with Willie Esterhuizen (Orkney: Die Movie and Lipstick Dipstick) seems to have not improved matters much. There are plenty of candid camera moments to please the punters, and even an inexplicable Austin Powers spoof (a spoof of a spoof?), but the narrative framework is badly executed in every conceivable way.
Consider the multitude of sins: bad dialogue, incoherent plot, dodgy performances and amateurish camera work. It’s all so broad and over the top that it reminded me of a high school media-class production. Except this production cost a few million to cobble together - Schuster’s highest budget film outing to date.
Oh Schuks really comes crashing to the ground when it resorts to using stock footage of slow-motion lions, savannah sunsets and the 1995 Rugby World Cup to illicit a few tears and highlight the joys of living in South Africa. His heart may be in the right place, but Schuster, tragically, comes across as a filmmaker from an obsolete era, struggling to get to grips with a new world.
While the candid camera moments may draw laughter from the audience, they often do so wrapped in an uncomfortable reality. They confirm that we South Africans are a violent and aggressive bunch. And if you think the Apartheid mentality is dead, wait till you see a Free State farmer assaulting Schuster made up as a black traffic officer. Laughing at ourselves? Perhaps, but I wonder who’s really doing the laughing, and at whose expense?
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