Some movies you watch and forget them as soon as you step outside the cinema -
Thina Sobabili is not one of those movies. It stays with you, it makes you think about the characters, the actors and above all, the issues it showcases. Let's dig in.
Thina Sobabeli, which roughly translates to
Just the two of us, tells the story of two siblings who seem to have every social ill befall them except HIV. Thulani (Nkosinathi Gweva) and his younger sister Zanele (Busisiwe Mtshali) are black, poor, living in a child-headed family in Alexander and carry serious emotional baggage, which they both react to in very different ways. Throw a sugar daddy into the mix and things go haywire.
Yet this hard hitting drama is not all doom and gloom, there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments intertwined with the drama . Especially from Thulani's henchmen Sbu (Thato Dhladla) and Mandla (Mpho Madikoane) who have some of the funniest gags I've seen on film in a while. At the heart of it, Thina Sobabili is that type of drama where you ask yourself: is a happy ending ever possible in this story?
Thulani and Zanele become analogies of problems facing young people in South Africa, especially those on the poor side of the township. Nkosinathi Gweva showcases his brilliant acting chops as Thulani, Ronnie Nyakale, the original papa Action, would be proud of this young man's performance.
In Thulani we see the problems of the man-child in us - filled with rage and using violence to lash out at anything he does not agree to. The man who does not know how to communicate without lashing out with his fists. We all have a Thulani in our families. Then there's the petty criminal behaviour - that character who rationalises that he's feeding his family but does not see it's part of the problem.
Then we have Zanele, a child who wants out of the township, but her social standing does not allow it, making her easy prey for the BEE types with flashy cars and the taste for young kids. Kope Makgae, from those OLX ads, is hilarious as one of these types. Richard Lukunku (funnily enough he's in the OLX ads with Kope) and Zikhona Sodlaka are the big name stars in this but it's the young ones who carry the film. Who deliver on the drama and comedy.
Yet for every laugh we have in Thina Sobabili, there's a tear around the corner though. Children are not supposed to be confronted with what these characters are confronted with but our society today creates more and more Zanele and Thulani's who battle the same issues as these characters on a daily basis
Ernest Nkosi (Director/co-writer) and Motheo Moeng ( DOP) have really outdone themselves on the visuals. You wouldn't say this is a self funded indie flick that was shot in 7 days. This could easily have been a Mzansi Magic production quality-wise, given all the constraints on shooting on a limited budget but the guys have pulled it through and elevated the image and story. The score is haunting and the performances are mesmerising, especially from the two young leads and Thato Dhladla, whoever thought Popps could do drama?
This aint an easy film to watch but it's a movie worth watching. It's currently on at the Durban Film Festival.
Rating ***1/2
*junk **almost bearable ***now we cooking ****almost perfect *****classic ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++