Otelo Burning

I saw this movie in Chennai International Film Festival. This movie throws light on SouthAfrica's fight against Aparthied, though thats not the main theme of this movie. It captures the aspirations of young boys who aim to make it big in surfing while the background is the revolution. The characters in this movie see surfing more as a realization of freedom rather than a sport. It kind of parallels the revolution while it shows all the aspects of adolescent age group.

This movie never left any impact on me. It's a honest movie but lacks in the over all feel. You won't regret watching this movie and not watching also.

I got the honor of seeing this film at a Pre-Screening before it's release and I was very glad i got that opportunity. The film is set in the late 80's, the apartheid days in South Africa where it follows the story of the 2 boy's Otelo and New Year with their dreams to surf. The film was shot very well giving the the circumstances that some of the scenes involved shooting out at sea. I enjoyed most of the images in the film although i wished they could have shown more scenery of the locations they filmed in. Its understandable as the film is set in the 80's, but I believe they achieved what they wanted to portray.

Characters on the film where enjoyable to watch, Jafta playing Otelo could have done his scenes better as his emotion lacked in some areas of the film, his friend New Year, Narrator of the film did an exceptional job with his character and the narration of the film. The humor was quite funny an enjoyable as well. Overall the film is a fun ride as you get to experience surfing, as seen through the lives of young black teenagers.

This desrves a 8/10. Go out and see the film. Great South African Cinema.