
Tom Tykwer has had a somewhat up-and-down career, at least according to the reviews, but what he's up to now may be that rare thing in cinema, an unqualified good. Using his own money, he's set up a scheme to train filmmakers in Africa—directors, writers, crew, actors. Projects are workshopped, then made. Soul Boy is the first feature to emerge from the scheme. Made for €80,000, shot in just thirty days, with highly trained professionals largely standing by to let the first-timers have their crack at it, this movie is sixty minutes of pure dream.
I haven't written much about African cinema (have I written anything?) because I don't know much about it, and I've struggled to get into it because I always get the feeling I'm supposed to see it as a good liberal, or to show an interest in other cultures. I do have an interest in other cultures, but that has almost nothing to do with what I watch films for. I want any film I watch to do two or three things, in no special order of preference:
1) Be a beautiful object (defining "beautiful" in as loose and sloppy a way as possible)
2) Give pleasure (defining "pleasure" with similar laxity)
3) Provoke rewarding thought (so that the experience isn't over when the film's done)
I stand by all of the above, but have to admit that failing to engage with pretty much a continent's worth of cinema cannot be defended on those grounds. There's going to be stuff there for me to love!
Happily, Soul Boy is eminently loveable, and satisfies my three big needs thoroughly. One might be favourably inclined towards it purely on charitable grounds, but the movie creates an affectionate response all its own, in synch with the first warm feeling but distinct from it, totally earned by the movie's own merits. Read More
in Venice 2010. Robert Rodriguez's "Machete"
2Sep10
by Mac