2013 Directed by Jahmil X.T. Qubeka
After engaging in an illicit affair with one of his pupils, teacher Parker Sithole spirals into an abyss of obsession that eventually turns to murder. A cinephile's passionate homage to classic film noir, Of Good Report is a serial killer origins story about how a social misfit turns into an inadequate man hellbent on satisfying his shameful lust. It is Little Red Riding Hood, told from the wolf's perspective.
性教慾, 好名声
I don't like Othello.
I don't like him at all.
He is an abusive man who hates women.
Nolitha, who says the above quote, is a high school student as beautiful as can be. She's caught the eye of the new teacher. They meet at a pool hall. Neither know their roles. It's not until after a night of passion they meet face to face in the classroom. The moment the head mistress introduces the new teacher, Njabu to the class is silent drama personified. The strain to hide the recognition, knowing that they've been completely and utterly intimate with one another.
But that's not really what this South African film from writer/director Jahmil C.T Qubeka is about. When we…
South African movie about a teacher obsessed with his student Nolitha (rhymes with Lolita) that was originally banned.
Been wanting to see this one awhile and it did not disappoint, found it on Vudu.
Spoiler ahead for those who haven't seen yet....
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Didn't like how his character kills her under a supposed psychotic break imagining it's not her. Seemed pretty obvious his motivation for kidnapping her, and his anger towards her was her rejection. So it seemed like it was being offered as a way to maybe make him sympathetic or...just didn't work for me.
*me, hungover as fuck, turning up to uni half an hour late, a greggs vegan steak bake in one hand and litre bottle of orange lucozade in the other:* heya girlies !!!!!!
*my lecturer, watching me stumble into the theatre in this state and waiting to play a film way too gross and unnerving for a hot mess student on a wednesday morning:* hi bitch
Originally due to receive its world premiere on July 18, 2013 – the opening night of the 34th Durban International Film Festival – director, Jahmil X.T. Qubeka’s ‘Of Good Report’, his passionate and extremely controversial homage to classic film noir, was however banned by the state-run Film and Publications Board on the day of the screening, due to the appearance of one particularly controversial scene which they claimed constituted ‘child pornography’.
After a week long protest and appeal from frustrated filmmakers and audience members alike, the ban was eventually lifted, Qubeka’s film was then finally given a rating (classified as suitable for viewers aged 16 or over) and was screened nearly two weeks later on the closing day of the…
I have been eager to get into Jahmil X.T. Qubeka’s work for a while, and I’m ecstatic that I did. “Of Good Report” offers a South African film that doesn’t feel slapped together with sloppy lighting and cheesy dialogue, but one that simmers and terrifies and unroots themes that South African films dare not explore with such expansiveness and depth (plus, the lighting is pretty fantastic too).
2013 South African movie. Beautiful cinematography and unpredictable plot. Such an interesting choice to have the lead actor not say any dialogue throughout the movie. Creepy predatory behavior on a teenager, which is never fun to watch :/
This borrows much from a certain 20th-century novel & reimagines it as a crime thriller in modern South Africa. It works.
Some moments land a little false. (Ideas/scenes pushed a tad too far.) But this is mostly well crafted. Better than similar thrillers from the USA, Europe, & Asia.
Without imitating the Coens, the use of black comedy & suspense occasionally approaches the brothers’ mastery. A main character's depravity prevents me from calling this movie “fun.” Let's call it worthwhile. Banned for years, it's actually pretty tame compared with many thrillers & certainly milder than most horror.
Looking forward to watching more from this team of filmmakers.
I enjoy the fun they had with the credits at the end.
Multi-layered, messed up, and mesmerizing. A powerful indictment created through quality story-telling.
horrifying, perhaps one of the most spiritually honest portrayals of obsession and desire and the blubbering pitiful nothingness at the heart of social anxieties. A loser-core classic about existentially finding no other purpose but violence.
10 stars
