The covert comedian

A local film focuses on the Muslim community in Joburg is both insightful and hilarious

Material ****

MATERIAL is the brainchild of Ronnie Apteker, a South African who has produced a couple of off-beat local comedies using familiar SA comedians as the lead players.

This is his most complex and most impressive film to date and it has had a long gestation. It took about six years of going backwards and forwards to get all the aspects of the film in place.

The focus is on stand-up comedy, which has a strong following in South Africa, and the initial film was going to be about the comedy scenes and its flamboyant characters.

But over six years, with many discussions between Apteker, the writer-director Craig Freimond and comedian Riaad Moosa, the story went through various permutations.

Eventually it evolved into a classic family drama, but with an interesting theme about comedy, and how it can break down barriers between people; and how families can - and must - change to survive.

The title, Material, takes on many meanings as the film progresses. On the most literal level, it's about material as fabric.

The story is about two brothers who have had a feud over many years. Both men own and run material shops, one in the side streets of Fordsburg and the other in the more upmarket Oriental Plaza.

Another meaning of the word relates to wealth: in the sense of material possessions, and most importantly the material from which a stand-up comedian draws his inspiration.

It features a group of SA's top comedians - Moosa, Joey Rasdien, Nik Rabinowitz and even old-timer Mel Miller - but it's not really about comedians. The central plot is that Cassim Kaif (Moosa), is a dutiful son and a good Muslim, but also a funny stand-up comedian. What makes him stand out is that he uses the material of his life, his culture and his community to create his comedy. The point is that he is doing it covertly.

Daily he opens the fabric shop, serves at the counter and works with his father, Ebrahim Kaif (Vincent Ebrahim), who does not have a clue about Cassim's "second" life as a stand-up comedian.

That's what gives this film its emotional dynamic. It's a generational clash.

Cassim's father has not changed over the decades. His life today is no different from the way it was 30 years ago.

There's another issue: Ebrahim still nurtures anger and aggression towards his brother, Rafiq (Roysten Stoffels). They are similar in temperament and, although their shops are within a five-minute walk, they have not exchanged a word in decades.

It's a complex family drama, but what lifts the film to another level is the superb comedy. In my opinion, writer-director Freimond does his best work yet.

The insight into the community and into the characters is handled with charm, and the comedy is sharp enough to bite, but not aggressive enough to be destructive.

The acting is first rate and any movie in which the luminous and compassionate actress Denise Newman appears is worth a look. She plays Fatima, the long-suffering mother. Rasdien is excellent as Yusuf, Cassim's friend.

What makes Material stand out is that it changes the game. So many films made in South Africa relate to the apartheid years, the ANC struggle, and the urban riots that led to the new SA.

The Muslim community is seldom the focus of a South African film. In fact, I can't remember seeing a film that touches on this community in any significant way. For that, one must applaud Freimond, who shot the film entirely around the Oriental Plaza and Fordsburg. He captures the sense of community and the tone of one of Joburg's most interesting places.

I loved the detail and the vitality of his vision - and what sealed the deal for me was the wonderful sequences about the Sunday afternoon exodus to Zoo Lake. It's a long-standing tradition, and Freimond uses that as the focus of newly recognised romance. It's that kind of detail, that sense of intimacy and authenticity, which makes the film so resonant.

I hope local audiences will be smart enough to recognise how good this movie is. The fact that it made the Top Three of the weekly box office, surpassing a slew of Hollywood movies, tells us that South Africans recognise talent when they see it.