The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980 comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Jamie Uys. An international co-production of South Africa and Botswana, it is the first film in The Gods Must Be Crazy series. Set in Southern Africa, the film stars South West African San farmer Nǃxau ǂToma as Xi, a hunter-gatherer of the Kalahari Desert whose tribe discovers a glass Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an aeroplane, and believes it to be a gift from their gods. When Xi sets out to return the bottle to the gods, his journey becomes intertwined with that of a biologist (Marius Weyers), a newly hired village school teacher (Sandra Prinsloo), and a band of guerrilla terrorists.
The Gods Must Be Crazy was released in South Africa on September 10, 1980, by Ster-Kinekor Films, and broke several box office records in the country, becoming the most financially successful South African film ever produced at the time. The film was a commercial and critical success in most other countries, but took longer to find success in the United States, where it was eventually re-released in 1984 by 20th Century Fox,[1] with its original Afrikaans dialogue dubbed into English. Despite its success, the film attracted controversy for its depiction of race and perceived ignorance of discrimination and segregation (apartheid) in South Africa.[2]
In 1989, it was followed by a sequel The Gods Must Be Crazy II. Three unofficial sequels were produced in Hong Kong, where Nǃxau reprised his role.
Plot
Xi and his San tribe live happily in the Kalahari Desert, away from industrial civilisation. One day, a glass Coca-Cola bottle, thrown out of an airplane by a pilot, falls to the soft ground unbroken. Xi's people assume the bottle to be a gift from the gods, just like plants and animals, finding countless new uses for it, such as curing animal hides, carrying water, grinding roots, rolling dough, and tracing decorative circular shapes. Only one glass bottle exists, however, and members of the tribe are constantly demanding its use while conflict arises in the erstwhile peaceful tribe. As a result, Xi decides to make a pilgrimage to the edge of the world to dispose of the divisive object.
Meanwhile, biologist Andrew Steyn, who is studying the local wildlife in Botswana, is tasked by the local minister with bringing to the village Kate Thompson, a woman who quit her job as a journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa to become a village school teacher in Botswana. Normally competent and efficient, Andrew becomes awkward and clumsy in Kate's presence. His transport task is made difficult by an ancient Land Rover without brakes that requires him to jump out of the car to place a stone wedge under a wheel, upsetting Kate. The car stalls while fording a deep river, requiring them to camp out for the night 30 miles from their destination, which Kate finds opportunistic. While Andrew is undressing for bed with his pants down, a wild boar attacks him. As he runs through the bushes, he trips and falls onto a scantily clad Kate. Not witnessing a rhinoceros stamp out their campfire, Kate thinks Andrew put out the fire himself to scare her into seeking his protection. The next morning Kate gets stuck in a wait-a-bit tree; Andrew tries to rescue her and they both end up stuck together in their undergarments.
Cast
Director Jamie Uys appears in an uncredited role as the Reverend.[6]
Production
Development and casting
Jamie Uys conceived the premise of The Gods Must Be Crazy while making the 1974 documentary Animals Are Beautiful People.[2] The documentary was filmed partially on the Kalahari Desert, where Uys first encountered the San people and "fell in love with them".[2] Uys chose a Coca-Cola bottle as the object that the San people would discover and covet in The Gods Must Be Crazy because he felt that the bottle was representative of "our plastic society", and because it "is a beautiful thing, if you've never seen glass before".[2]
Uys noted that he modelled the character of Andrew Steyn after himself: "I used to be awkward like that, especially with women. But then, I think most young guys knock things over with their first girl".[2]
Soundtrack
Release
Box office
The Gods Must Be Crazy was initially released in South Africa on 10 September 1980 by Ster-Kinekor Pictures. Within its first four days of its release, the film broke box office records in every city in South Africa. It became the highest-grossing film of 1982 in Japan, where it was released under the title Bushman.[12] Executive producer Boet Troskie sold the distribution rights to the film to 45 countries.
For its release in the United States, the original Afrikaans dialogue was dubbed into English, and voiceover work was provided for !Kung and Tswana lines. The film initially received a limited American release through Jensen Farley Pictures in 1982, but performed poorly in at least half a dozen test cities.[1][13] However, the film would eventually find critical and commercial success when it was re-released by 20th Century Fox on 9 July 1984,[14]
Controversies
The Gods Must Be Crazy attracted criticism for its perpetuation of racial stereotypes and ignorance of discrimination and segregation (apartheid) in South Africa.[2] In the U.S., the film was reportedly picketed by the National Conference of Black Lawyers and other anti-apartheid groups when it screened at the 68th Street Playhouse in New York City.[2]
Accusations of patronisation
Both New York Times critic Vincent Canby and author Josef Gugler called the film "patronising" towards the San people.[20] Canby wrote that the San in the film "are seen to be frightfully quaint if not downright cute", and compared the film's narrator's statement that the San "must be the most contented people in the world" to "exactly the sort of thing that Mussolini might have said when he got those trains running on time".[20] Gugler considered both the film's narrator and the character of Mpudi condescending, writing that "even if Mpudi feels for the San people, he is just as patronising as the narrator: 'They are the sweetest little buggers. In response to accusations of patronisation, Uys said that "I don't think the film is patronising.
Sequel and related films
The Gods Must Be Crazy was followed by an official sequel, The Gods Must Be Crazy II, released by Columbia Pictures in 1989. It was written and directed by Uys, and again stars N!xau.
An unofficial sequel, Crazy Safari (also titled The Gods Must Be Crazy III), followed, a Hong Kong film starring N!xau. Other unofficial sequels include Crazy Hong Kong (The Gods Must Be Crazy IV) and The Gods Must Be Funny in China (The Gods Must Be Crazy V). Another unrelated film, Jewel of the Gods was marketed in some territories as sequels to The Gods Must Be Crazy.
Legacy
Irish Spring soap had a 1989 commercial parodying the film.[30]
The video for the song "Take Me to Your Leader" by American rock band Incubus pays homage to the film.[31]
See also
- List of cult films
Further reading
External links
References
- Josef Gugler. African Film: Re-imagining a Continent Indiana University Press, 2003, retrieved 13 June 2010^
- Judy Klemesrud. 'The Gods Must Be Crazy' - A Truly International Hit The New York Times, 28 April 1985, retrieved 23 July 2020^
- Lee. 2003^