Wild Is the Wind

A flawed protagonist needs to face the consequences of his choices to do what is right, the classic premise of a possibly good story. The premise of Wild is the Wind.

Vusi wants to move up in life, he wants to provide his family with better conditions, accepting any path to reach his goal. His desire. We know that Vusi needs to learn.

Follows law enforcement partners Vusi Matsoso and John Smit, senior investigators trying to make a living through active corruption. Their personal problems lead them to work together to improve their financial situation.

The cinematography is good in several moments. Wild is the Wind is a strong story, and the cinematographer tries to show that.

But nothing is perfect. The antagonist's lack of development makes his journey insignificant, inexplicable. So inexplicable that, in the end, the feeling is that we have lost some scene, some point in history that gives meaning to the things the antagonist and Vusy said, to the events. This lack of development also makes the antagonist disconnected from the main events, almost secondary. A pity, because the antagonist seems to be convincing.

Wild is the Wind is an engaging, slow drama that captivates with its premise and theme. With minimal flaws, this film is recommended if you want a compelling story about racism, injustice and redemption.

From here on out, I'll discuss important scenes that reveal about the film. Spoilers! Be warned.

The ending is dissonant, almost exploitative. An unnecessary ending, created just to make it bitter, to say "look how tense and strong this movie is, how heavy this movie is".

Vusi dies. Vusi had everything to be able to get back on top, redeem himself, but he dies, without reason, without purpose, without a clue. Even his wife says that she waits for him, but that he needs to be ready. Vusi's bow could redeem him, but his redemption cost his life with no use for his sacrifice. The ending could be different, more alive, Vusi accepting who she is, fighting but in a fair way.

I needed to release this outcome from within myself.

The film offers an interesting view of a South African town and township and highlights the continuing inequality characterizing South Africa. The town very much has the feel of a southern town in the US in the 1960's where racial inequality was stark, racial attitudes and privileges were potent and very much in your face, even as many in society tried to move forward. The take of the criminals in the black community justifying their criminality as a reasonable response to racism was compelling and the tension between the white and black cops felt authentic. There are no purely good guys in the movie (though there are a couple of good, very noble women) and only one irredeemably evil guy. On the whole I thought it was a very good flick, if a bit melodramatic. It didn't offer the relatively happy ending I was expecting, but it was perhaps more realistic as a result. Innocent people are sometimes railroaded, police do knowingly charge innocent people if they're under duress to produce a suspect and in South Africa and in the South Africa, murders of whites still prompt more vigorous efforts by authorities to find the killers than murders of black people. It isn't a pleasant film and it doesn't say much positive about human nature, but it's a good movie.

Comes out of nowhere this South African drama with great actors which are not very well known in the US. Filmed in the traditional South African dialect, English viewers will need closed captions to understand the dialogues.

The engrossing crime drama is about searching for the responsible person(s) for the rape and murder of an18 years old white girl in a town, woven with racial distrust, inequality, injustice, and corruption.

The film starts with two police officers stopping a car for speeding. Unbeknownst to the police, the driver has a ducked-up woman in the trunk. They accept a cash bribe instead of searching the car. They later learn that a woman was burnt to death in the same car. This event changes the officer's played Mothusi Mogano's life. He occasionally sees her, directing him toward the clues.

It is solid entertainment and a great performance. A Must watch!

African crime/narc/thriller movies that includes corrupt cop or maybe they say kopjes, spinning around in the transvaal region i guess, usually brings you into quite some realistic stuff, harsh and tough they act in this movie, that have the racial balance as a meter of issuance.

They are usually wellmade and thourough in their making, but this one slips a bit on, maybe not the main cast, the support and extras that fills the frame. It feels instructive behind the camera, and the lack of heartfelt acting shines through. It maybe amateur issues or just directional fits of action.

But youll get thrill for your money even if they come in a rand-omized order, so a small recommend from the grumpy old man.

The action scenes are stealthy, but the anticipation slowly fades into the background as the script gets a bit dense in highlighting other social issues. The racially fuelled opening fades into the background as the script explores other dire needs of the community who have fallen into poverty and are desperate to get themselves out of it. Medea wants to highlight the endless cycle that occurs in the area and how corruption is perceived. It is more so character-driven, as the police officers are polar opposites of one another. One is more level-headed, and the other is a hothead with a short fuse, which ends up being quite problematic.

*didn't show too much racial tension as opposed to other problems.