Lipstiek Dipstiek

To appreciate this film you have to understand the context in which it was presented. Esterhuizen, the writer and director, was responsible for one of the most successful apartheid-era South African sitcoms called Orkney Snork Nie (Orkney does not snore). In this time, media was highly censored. All profanity, even borderline bad words, were bleeped out. Discussions about sex, abortion, racism or criticism of the church or state were absolutely taboo. This is where Esterhuizen worked magic in his sitcom. He used suggestive lines and well timed bleeps to create a family friendly sitcom which broached these topics in a way even conservative Afrikaners could enjoy.

This film, on the other hand, was released in the year South Africa became a democracy (with the associated freedom of speech and expression). For the first time, Esterhuizen could blatantly break every taboo of South African film and he did. With this in mind, the film is very entertaining and delivered comical scenes and lines which became part of Afrikaner popular culture. Naturally the blatantness of the film did not play well with conservative Afrikaners at the time, but 20 years later I can still watch and enjoy it, despite being a bit over the top.