Die Wonderwerker

DIE WONDERWERKER (2012): with Dawid Minnaar, Elize Cawood, Marius Weyers, Anneke Weideman, Kaz McFadden, Sandra Kotzé and Cobus Rossouw, directed by Katinka Heyns. Rating: *** ½ out of **** stars. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

An absorbing, moving and excellent period drama - filmed on rugged, magnificent rural locations - which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend to discerning cinema goers.

Like "Roepman", "Jerusalema" and "Tsotsi", Katinka Heyns' "Die Wonderwerker" is one of the best South Africans films I have seen yet.

Beautifully photographed, and sensitively and passionately directed by Katinka Heyns ("Paljas", "Die Storie van Klara Viljee") from a finely detailed script by her husband Chris Barnard, it is, in my opinion, world class fare. An affecting Dawid Minnaar is marvelous as the famous (in South Africa) Afrikaans poet, naturalist, writer and morphine addict Eugene Marais and the entire cast is very good, but Elize Cawood is absolutely outstanding and is likely to garner many local awards.

This is the second South African film about Eugene Marais - Athol Fugard played him in the fine, award winning, Ross Devenish-directed 1977 movie, "The Guest" (An Episode in the Life of Eugene Marais). "Die Wonderwerker", however, is a far superior film to "The Guest".

I sat down to this film bracing myself for another hideously drawn out sermon disguised as a film but found myself unexpectedly engaged. I love the simple moral dilemma, the relationship between Jane and Eugène and the complex family dynamics that surface because of it. Overall; a very interesting script, perhaps a little rough around the edges but good.

However, it has to be said that the success of this film ends with the story. The shooting is maddeningly bland. Moments that are supposed to be tense fall flat and the lighting makes me feel like I'm watching a sitcom.

It's frustrating to see this interesting story so unskillfully portrayed. Some of it is just plain lazy. It was completely amateurish, entire steps in the production process were evidently skipped and hence this film is miles from looking cinematic.

Were this film done by a filmmaker with more vision it might have been marvelous but the story still shines through the crap and that makes it a worthwhile watch.

Die Wonderweker moved me. I was entranced by the cinematography, and by the rich, evocative images of bushveld life, and I felt I could smell and feel the air of the farm. It's also a beautiful story beautifully told.

Reviewer Mitch Berger http://www.imdb.com/user/ur35244565/ put it perfectly: "If there is any part of you that loves poetry; if you are a lover of nature and life; if you can spend hours staring at the mystery of moonlight and the beauty of an open unhindered plain, then I urge you, see this beautiful movie."

Another masterpiece from Katinka Heyns.

Like Katinka Heyn's other offerings, 'Die Wonderwerker' is a beautiful and romantic tale - deep in character study, poetic, and insightful. It is remarkable that this director has not received the acclaim she so completely deserves. Rising beyond politics and cheap effects, she has a way of entering into the spirit of the Afrikaans people, and through the portrayal of their inter-connectedness with the African countryside and way of life, she enters into the universal themes of yearning, unrequited passions, and love.

'Die Wonderwerker' is a marvel of movie-making. We enter into the heat and dust of an African farm, and yet always, feel saturated by its beauty. We are shown the impossibility of satisfaction in our desires, and yet we are left with a feeling for the naturalness of love.

If there is any part of you that loves poetry; if you are a lover of nature and life; if you can spend hours staring at the mystery of moonlight and the beauty of an open unhindered plain, then I urge you, see this beautiful movie.

And if, like me, you are left in a wide open space - emotional, expansive, and deeply fulfilled, then seek out Katinka Heyns' other magnificent offerings - "Paljas", and "Die storie van Klara Viljee". To my mind, she is South Africa's greatest film-maker, and easily the equal of any great film-maker to be found in the world.