An Old Laugh...

Category : Movie
Name : The Gods must be crazy I & II
Cast : N!xau, Marius Weyers, Sandra Prinsloo...
My View : These movies came out in the 1980s. I faintly remembered some scenes from the two and so I decided to watch them again. And I was not disappointed. One of the most down-to-earth comedies that I have ever seen. The two movies are about a bushman, Xixo, and his family living in the Kalahari. In the first part, he finds an empty coke bottle. Being used to living off the earth, he has no idea what that is or what to do with it. He takes it home and soon the bottle becomes indispensible for his family, so much so that they start having arguments over who gets to use it. These simple people do not know the concept of violence, swearing and all. So, petrified by what he sees, he decides that the "thing" is evil and must be thrown off the end of the earth. The movie follows his journey and the people he meets on the way. The funny bit is in the simplistic, everyday activities and not in something really out of the ordinary. The movie tries to potray the viewpoint of the bushman and how different he feels the modern way of life is. There is a side plot in the movie which tells the story of a lady-teacher who has recently been sent to Botswana and a Researcher, who is living there and how he falls for her and all the clumsiness that goes with that.

In the second part, Xixo's two kids get lost. They see strange tracks on the ground one day and they follow the tracks which lead to a rig towing a water tank behind it. Since they have never seen so much water, they assume that this "animal" is producing the water. They jump in to have a drink, but the rig starts off. The movie then follows them and their father, Xixo, as he tries to find his kids. The second part is not so Xixo centric as the first but is funny nonetheless. The side plot in this one follows two doctors who are out on a small plane, which runs out of gas and gets caught a tree in the middle of the Kalahari. Then we are amused by their antics and how they manage to get back to civilization.

The good part about both the movies is that the main and the sub-plots are interestingly, and funnily, intermingled...while keeping the main character in focus at all times.

I would highly recommend this movie. Its a must watch for anyone who likes simple comedies. A good watch in general.