Bernie Tiede, a small town mortician, was a very popular man in the small Texan town of Carthage. Friendly, sweet-natured and generous, he was heavily involved in the church and local upliftment programmes, making him a firm favourite among locals. So much so that when he befriended a wealthy widow and murdered her, it was almost as if he had cast a spell on the townsfolk.

Bernie is a dark comedy that would be best described as a true crime TV documentary in the style of Christopher Guest. Bernie echoes the work of Guest’s improvised comedies: Best in Show, A Mighty Wind and Waiting for Guffman. The documentary style interviews with locals set the scene as we get to know the lead characters unpacking a series of questions surrounding the crime. There’s even a touch of Wes Anderson’s Rushmore, portraying a sweet, naieve and likable character, whose misguided pursuit for love and acceptance in a closed environment lands him in a predicament.

We’re immersed in the culture, introduced to Bernie by the sympathetic locals, before the real story plays out. Jack Black plays Bernie like a mixture between Poirot and well, Jack Black. He’s sweet, round, well-mannered, effeminate and courteous to the point of murder. Black manages to keep a lid on his energy, channeling it into the business of his character, who seems intent on turning the film into a musical.

He’s supported by Shirley MacLaine as Majorie Nugent, who plays a shade of what’s become a regular character outing for her. She’s tempestuous, bitter and largely despised by her counterparts, who are only too quick to tell it how it is. It’s a rather thankless role and antithesis for the charms of Jack Black, which eventually makes way for another good turn by Matthew McConaughey as self-appointed chief justice and District Attorney, Danny Buck.

Jack Black’s composed performance as Bernie and Richard Linklater’s ode to the work of Christopher Guest and Wes Anderson give this comedy class. The film’s ‘based on a true story’ tag line grounds it, dulling some of the comedy and creating a strange small town tension around the nature of the crime with a bunch of colourful commentaries from locals.

Bernie is character-driven and we derive enjoyment from the details, customs, wardrobe, state of mind and sense of humour of Carthage. The blot of murder on Bernie’s clean sheet reputation show how a popular gentleman’s lifetime of good deeds blur the lines of justice. It’s an entertaining, sharp-witted, fascinating and sympathetic character study into the life and times of a irrepressibly sweet and seemingly innocent man.

The bottom line: Charmed

Stephen ‘Spling’ Aspeling
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Instead of beating us over the head with the issues or going for a underdog versus corporate scenario, Matt Damon and John Krasinski have written a screenplay from the salesman’s perspective. Matt Damon is known for playing likable, everyman characters and he delivers a fine performance from a difficult standpoint. Beyond the ecological frame, it’s a small town drama about pioneering, doing what it takes to clinch the deal and being able to keep your head high.

In many ways, the eco-drama is a skin for a high school popularity, Mexican stand-off or election contest as two forces go head-to-head in a race to get the sway of public approval. Promised Land rumbles with enough humour and infotainment to keep us locked in, but it’s Damon’s performance that elevates the film.

Damon knows the script well, which helps him translate the complex character of Steve Butler with great aplomb. It’s not as determined as Julia Roberts in Erin Brockovich, but he manages to make us like him despite his apparent oblivion. He’s supported by heavyweights in Frances McDormand as his colleague and Hal Holbrook as a local science teacher, with co-screenwriter, John Krasinski filling in for Ben Affleck as a charming environmental activist and thorn in his side.

Promised Land is a product of our times. You could argue that Man’s proclivity towards hedonism and narcissim has made us a selfish, self-made, independent and vain species. However, the “plague” or “scourge” of the Earth as David Attenborough put it, better known as humanity, is becoming more environmentally-conscious. Then another trend is that community can effect change – just take a look at the rise of organisations like Avaaz, Groupon, Kickstarter and Waze.

Most films of this type generally underplay the issue or fall headlong into a preachy one-sided affair bordering on propaganda. Gus Van Sant’s film falls into neither, which would put it at risk of being bland. The human drama has real weight and we’re able to get an insider’s perspective. By taking the flawed salesman’s point-of-view with sympathy, he disarms us. Keeping the fracking and social context as the glue, Van Sant affords the opportunity to inform his audience in a subtle manner and he doesn’t harp on.

The end result is an entertaining coming-of-age small town drama with an ecologically-conscious message. While fracking leads to a clean energy source in natural gas, the method of extraction has a serious impact on the environment. By the end of the film we’re both moved and enlightened by a first-rate cast, solid performances, subtle direction and a script that bristles with life.

The bottom line: Compelling

Stephen ‘Spling’ Aspeling
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Now here’s an interesting concept! The world’s first cashless fashion boutique, The Exchange, has been opened by NATIVE at Cavendish Square in Cape Town.

Stocked with clothing and accessories from more than 25 of South Africa’s top designers, nothing in the store can be purchased with cash or credit cards – only by becoming an organ donor.

The concept for The Exchange (outlined at www.facebook.com/organdonorfan) was conceived by Ryan McManus, Executive Creative Director at NATIVE.
“Fashion has typically been synonymous with consumerism,” he explains. “We were looking for a way in which we could change the currency of meaningless consumerism and shift it to the currency of life by purchasing fashion with organ donor registration. We partnered with the Organ Donor Foundation and came up with the idea of opening a fashion boutique where, in exchange for a garment, the consumer can literally purchase an item by registering as an organ donor to potentially save lives.”

Samantha Volschenk, Executive Director of the Organ Donor Foundation SA says, “It’s not often that we come across such a compelling piece of work that will undoubtedly make such a big impact on our organisation. Each donor registration can hopefully save seven lives and with over 500 items in the boutique, we hope to reach a target of over 3500 possible lives saved. This will be an incredible result for us.”

The pop-up boutique opened 10 May 2013 and will remain open until all the clothing and accessories have been ‘exchanged’. This means any fashion conscious Capetonians with big hearts had better move fast.

To register as a donor online, visit www.facebook.com/organdonorfan.

This dynamic conference will take place in Cape Town, South Africa (World Design Capital 2014) from 6-9 October this year. It follows popular annual conferences already held in Nairobi, Kenya and Dakar, Senegal. The ACEC has proven to be instrumental in creating demand for markets and raising the profile of African cultural goods and services within Africa and beyond.

With research revealing that Africa’s share of the global creative economy is less than 1%, the conference will be a well-timed opportunity to access the latest facts and findings on the continent’s creative industries. It will also be an ideal means of networking with key stakeholders and gathering the opinions of thought leaders from around the globe.

Visit the website to register and get your early bird discount: https://acec2013.org.za/.

The story is truly heartbreaking and there’s a tensile emotional undercurrent that drives this simple, yet beautiful film. The endless reserve of love this mother has for this abandoned child is inspiring and you can’t help but be drawn into this contemporary take on the Good Samaritan. In our violent and ruthless society, we find someone who is able to rise above as justice runs its course.

While Little One deals with the rape and brutality of a child, it does so after the event. Roodt doesn’t take away from the severity of the crime or its affects on the victim, instead he chooses to show the flip side by focusing on the guardian angel. Her selfless act and unconditional love for the child lead to transformation in both of their lives.

Darrell Roodt (Yesterday, Cry the Beloved Country) has created a quietly powerful crime drama that blends the authenticity of South Africa’s socio-economic conditions with the sincerity of a heartfelt and redemptive love story. Little One can be likened to the cinema of Iran, engaging in life-affirming storytelling that cuts across age, race and culture. We can all identify with Little One and journey with ordinary people behaving in extraordinary ways.

Lindiwe Ndlovu is the life force of Little One. While probably best known for her comedic TV roles, she’s seamless as Pauline, concerned with more than simply conveying an accurate dramatic performance. In much the same way as Precious, you can sense a beauty that goes beyond circumstances. She embodies a naive and spirited character in a performance that works for and against Little One, lifting the film’s standards and showing up some of her supporting cast.

Mutodi Nesheshe delivers a solid supporting performance as Detective Morena. There may not be much in the way of exposition, but he represents the frustration of the justice system – determined to serve, yet unable to protect. It would have been fascinating to see the same story with a greater focus of the crime from his perspective.

Young Vuyelwa Msimang’s performance as the title character may be sheltered by bandages and behind-the-head shots for most of the film, but she’s there to represent every child. Her performance is instinctive and its a matter of letting the love in. Roodt uses her character to create deeply moving and symbolic scenarios involving her rehabilitation and reintegration.

One of the film’s drawbacks is the character and casting of Pauline’s husband, Jacob. While Luzuko Nqeto’s performance is sincere, it’s difficult to believe his character’s day and night transition. He’s stereotyped as an abusive and disconnected husband, who just wants his dinner on time. The actor has a comic edge, amplified by his features, that ultimately make him likable. This shines through, affecting the integrity of the drama and creating some unintentionally discordant moments.

Little One’s simplicity may not hold everyone’s attention. This is a quietly powerful drama that taps you on the shoulder to get your attention. Beautiful cinematography and symbolism make for a visceral experience that could be likened to walking through a gallery of South African photo-journalistic imagery with the subjects as your guide.

The bottom line: Powerful

Stephen ‘Spling’ Aspeling
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A fine art auctioneer (McAvoy) becomes the missing piece to a gang’s recovery of a stolen Goya artwork. After a knock on the head… the task becomes much trickier as a hypnotist (Dawson) tries to foil the gang leader (Cassel) and puzzle altogether.

Danny Boyle is a versatile director, having delved into an array of genres with great aplomb. Who would imagine that someone could shoot a film in-between orchestrating the opening of the Olympics? He’s an energetic force, and while he agreed to direct the Olympics opening, he prefers smaller scale projects in which he has more control. Trance is one of those projects, teaming up with John Hodge (Trainspotting) again to adapt a 2001 TV movie script into something with more panache.

Trance stars James McAvoy, although to be fair, this is a three-headed creature with Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson flanking the likable actor. This role reveals a much darker side to McAvoy, who recently played MacBeth on stage. It seems that the cheerful upstart is a type McAvoy is trying to shake with a series of performances with a much more sinister edge. Perhaps he’s just trying to give X-Men’s Professor Xavier more mystique?

In Trance, McAvoy delivers Simon in a complex performance that harnesses equal measures of light and dark, shifting his flawed character with demented sincerity. Vincent Cassel seems destined to play another typical Vincent Cassel villain as Franck, but all notions of this are shattered as Boyle bends the crime genre’s rules from a straight art heist thriller into a swirling and surreal mystery drama.

Then, Rosario Dawson almost hijacks the lead as Elizabeth, as the psychological puzzle locks in place. Dawson wants to fall in love with her roles and she immerses herself in the world of Trance, giving a beautifully controlled performance.

Trance is a sleek film with a fragmented reality and sensuality based in the subconscious, which gives the director free range. Danny Boyle doesn’t shy away from nudity or violence making the journey visceral and thrilling in every sense of the word. He uses a trail of breadcrumbs to lead you into a space, where several realities exist.

While as mesmerising as a kaleidoscope, the narrative does get a little messy. Boyle likes to feel his way through a film to journey with the audience and the set is an extension of him. He uses mirrors and interesting angles to represent these altered states, casting us in the deep end of the maze and making the process of getting lost deeply affecting and fascinating.

As they say in the film “No work of art is worth a human life.” Trance is not a masterpiece and it isn’t as good as its Nolan and Fincher contrasts, but it is a work of art. Boyle has crafted a film with artistic flair that will: evoke emotion with a selection of solid performances, enchant viewers with dazzling visuals, immerse us in another dimension with a surreal score and lose us in a maze of mirrored realities.

The bottom line: Mesmerising

Stephen ‘Spling’ Aspeling
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