Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

The days of independent 'arthouse' movie theaters are, sadly, mostly a thing of the past unless you live in a market that can support one. This film would certainly land there if there were any. I was rapt with the story , cinematography . . . And . . . Acting. Some of the shot set ups are remarkedly artistic and original. The main character, a young child is in practically every shot and scene and could not be more believable in that portrayal and you are always seeing things from her point of view and nothing is ever hyped or remotely artificial. I hesitated to give the movie eight stars only because I reserve that for only the very best and special kind of movies but this one is at that level because everything and I mean everything works and it is great story on a deeply human level. No one is pigeon holed , you can relate to anyone of them. Not Hollywood ,studio fare, best movie I have seen in quite some time.

An unforgettable achievement - Davidtz, making a bold and assured leap behind the camera, directs with a rare combination of restraint and boldness. Davidtz, herself born and raised in South Africa, brings a rare authenticity and emotional precision to the film that elevates it beyond a simple adaptation. Beautifully performed, and devastatingly honest. A must-watch. The cast is a lineup of performers that feel entirely lived-in, as if pulled from the soil of the land itself.

It's difficult to review a film like this because it wants you to feel bad for it's characters but they're all kind of terrible people. Fantastic acting from all parties involved but I think a few of the scripts issues that makes this movie more trashy than it needed to be.

There is a very uncomfortable scene that happens towards the middle of the film that really did not need to be there. It's only glaced upon once more in the film and it did nothing for the story. If you've seen it, you know what I mean.

There's also a simplicity to this story that felt like it only got skin deep for me. The political climate in that part of the world is volatile to say the least, but the film doesn't really show enough of that to make us feel like real danger is looming. Just some couple who are loosing their farm to the native people of that land. Interesting, but not as deep or thoughtful as it could've been.

Overall, not a bad film, but not a particularly good one either. The film seems to wallow in this pit of a crappy childhood as opposed to the realism of the danger these people put themselves in and the lack of care for the native people of that land. Personally, for me, it dragged the film down and made what should've been a hard hitting story into something that was difficult to relate to.

2.5 dogs out of 5.

I've read most of Fuller's books, including this titular one (which I've read twice). They present a view of Africa (as the other books move to different locales) that I've never encountered: people living on the wrong side of history, but unapologetically so. And this is where the book differs significantly from the film, with the result that the film is quite a different story from the book.

Fuller, in the memoir, presents her family's lives in a matter-of-fact way, aware of the Rhodesian Bush War and its dangers, particularly to Tim, the father. Since the memoir is retrospect, you get a rather adult colouring of Fuller's childhood. She is aware, too, of course, of the racism that permeates the country's politics; yet she is more interested in her family's hardscrabble efforts to make a living.

The film shifts this to a story that highlights and centres the racism that allowed the Fuller family (and other white families) the privileges (such as they were) they enjoyed. Thus, what I've pointedly called the Rhodesian Bush War in the book becomes, in the film, Zimbabwe War of Liberation. This tonal shift is perhaps unsurprising, as it would likely be impossible to adhere fully to Fuller's memoir given contemporary attitudes to the horrors of racism and colonialism.

What changes too is the point of view, from the memoir's retrospective adult to the film's seven-year-old's contemporary understanding. Initially, this threw me; but as the film progressed, and the information that Bobo takes in is the same information that you take in, the harsh, oppressive realities of a colonial way of life sink in.

Bobo's parents' attitudes, for example, certainly shape hers. In one scene, she orders around her Black African playmates until she is corrected by Sarah, a hired hand, who tells her that these children are her equals and not her servants. The neighbouring white families are depicted as low-class salacious slobs who refuse to understand the historical shift taking place; and while I realize that this may have been the case, the film pushes the point to the extent that none of the whites have any redeeming qualities, and this felt a bit off-kilter.

Nevertheless, the film is mostly flawless: acting, directing, cinematography, editing -- all brilliant, especially Lexi Venter as Bobo and Davidtz as the mother (and as director). These two should be up for major awards, along with the film itself. Highly recommended.

Embeth Davidtz has had a good career as an actor. I first became aware of her as Miss Honey in Danny DeVito's movie of MATILDA, in which she was warm and endearing without a trace of sentimentality -- quite an achievement. Next time I encountered her was in JUNEBUG in which presented a completely different but equally believable character. It was evident that she was a high-quality artist. But nothing could have prepared me for how brilliant she is as a mother at the end of her tether in this excellent movie. Not only that; she directed and co-wrote it.

Her major triumph as a director is to bring out from young Lexi Venter a tough and beguiling performance. The whole story is seen through her character's eyes, so everything rests on her, and she totally delivers under Ms Davittz's expert guidance.

The movie is based on a memoir by Alexandra Fuller, who is the film's co-writer with Ms Davitdz. It tells of Ms Fuller's experiences as a child observing the process of her settler-colonial parents and their neighbours facing up to (or, in most cases, not facing up to) the return of the land that had been acquired in what had been Rhodesia to the newly-independent nation of Zimbabwe. The counterpointing of the political and domestic in Ms Fuller's story is its great strength, and director Davidtz makes it the spine of the film.

There's terrific support from the whole cast, with a special shout out to Zihkona Bali as Sarah, a worker in the colonial household who finds herself at the centre of a storm.

I really can't recommend this film highly enough. Please see it.