'Triomf' a tragic, hidden triumph
AS AN adaptation of a successful book, the movie Triomfis a first for South Africa. And the film itself is a triumph, albeit a modest one. So, it's a crying shame that very few people will actually get to see it.
AS AN adaptation of a successful book, the movie Triomfis a first for South Africa. And the film itself is a triumph, albeit a modest one. So, it's a crying shame that very few people will actually get to see it.
Without a proper distribution deal, one print of the film is slowly making its way around the country while the general movie-going public remains largely oblivious.
Perhaps local movie bosses were scared off by the controversial subject matter - director Michael Raeburn, who wrote the script with Malcolm Kohll, includes an incestuous sex scene and some pretty crude, racist dialogue.
But, whatever happens, this film, by turns tragic and darkly comic, deserves a second life on DVD. Because, on the eve of the general election, its central message - that in the end it's the poor who are left behind, neither black nor white - is more relevant now than ever.
For those who haven't read the book, Triomf is a portrait of the ultimate dysfunctional family. The kind who would be perfect for a Roger Ballen photograph.
The Benades, as they are known, are a white trash family who eke out a living in the white ghetto the apartheid government built on the rubble of Sophiatown.
Uncle Treppie (Lionel Newton) fixes fridges, Pop (Paul Lückhoff) is a railway pensioner, his wife Mol (Vanessa Cooke) sells flowers in the street, and their strapping, slow-witted son, Lambert, rules the home with his violent temper.
It's 1994 and the first democratic general election is looming. Political party representatives pass through town on the campaign trail, but none of them makes an impression on the Benades.
Lambert talks about going north to Egypt once it's all over, a fact his friend Sonny from the junkyard is keen to exploit by selling him all kinds of junk.
Uncle Treppie is more concerned with getting Lambert laid on his 21st birthday. To that end he hires a young prostitute called Cleo (Pam Andrews) and Lambert goes to work cleaning the place up.
Tension mounts as Cleo's arrival and election day approach, but when the day finally does arrive it's the anti-climax that's a killer.
The only thing more upsetting than this film's tragic end is that movies such as Poena is Koning and Hond se Dinges are released nationwide and this one probably won't be.