New On Screen
Debbie Reynolds
With the new year comes the much anticipated new Durban film, 31 MILLION REASONS, which premiered at Ster Kinekor Gateway last night to a star-studded audience
The KwaZulu-Natal movie industry is definitely coming of age. It started in earnest with John van de Ruit’s delightful homegrown tale Spud, filmed in Durban and the Midlands. Now 31 Millions Reasons takes up the cudgels for putting Durban on the entertainment map.
Back in 1997 the daring “SBV robbery” was the talk of the town when R31 million was stolen in the middle of the night from a cash-holding facility in Durban. History will show that 14 men went to jail for the crime, but a few crooked policeman from Chatsworth managed to hold onto their freedom.
If you give credence to urban legend, you’ll likely believe the story that there was far more money at the deposit facility than was ever made public and most of the cash was never found.
Which all makes for a great “cops and robbers/heist” screenplay and so 31 Millions Reasons was born – the fictionalised story by Lev David about local detective Ronnie who has illusions of being above the criminal class and desperately wants to clean up his act. Ronnie is given the opportunity to go legitimate by a security guard … but only by orchestrating the biggest cash heist in South African history.
“Having grown up in Durban and consequently discovering that both producers, Ross Garland and Brad Logan, had grown up in Durban around the same time, the vision for 31 Million Reasons was always a singular one – make Durban look sexy,” says director John Barker (son of legendary soccer coach Clive).
“I was less interested in the postcard image of Durban but more in the third world, East meets West … in the Southern hemisphere kind of mix. This dynamic culture clash is a great visual backdrop, however, the key visual element of the film is the Indian influence.
“The South African Indian community is fascinating as it has its own set of social rules and traditions. It has a particular sense of humour and its own guidelines for right and wrong. This strong culture within an African culture is a wonderful palette for a filmmaker to draw inspiration.”
The film stars Jack Devnarain in the lead role of Ronnie Gopal, a particulary clever casting decision considering that as a former policeman, he had intimate knowledge of police protocol and behaviour. Also there are ECR deejay Neville Pillay (Reggie), Meren Reddy (Sashwin), Hamish Kyd (Uncle), Afzal Khan (Smiley), Rahul Brijnath (Jugs), Mary Makhato (Captain Ndaba), Trevor Gumbi (McIntyre) and Christine Moses (Chantal).
If you love gangster movies, 31 Million Reasons has it all … tension, betrayal, greed, charisma and humour!
Watch out for the opening credit sequence which shows the Esplanade in its many guises as remembered by Barker from when, as a teenager, he used to “cruise the strip either going nightclubbing or hitching to the beach for an early surf”.
Also new on the circuit this weekend is MARGIN CALL with a star-studded line-up that includes Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci and Demi Moore.
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis.
When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all to the brink of disaster.
Expanding the parameters of the genre, Margin Call is a rivetting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.
Also among the new films opening this weekend is A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN starring Kate Hudson as a guarded woman who finds out she’s dying of cancer, but when she meets her love match, the threat of falling in love is scarier than death.
In spite of the sombre content the movie it is billed as a comedy romance in true Hudson style. It also stars Kathy Bates and Whoopie Goldberg. Gael Garcia Bernal (Letters to Juliet and Motorcyle Diaries) is the love interest.
Set in New Orleans, the film’s storyline is that of an irreverent woman who unexpectedly falls in love with her doctor.
