FILM NEWS

Skop, skiet and laughter

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 12:22

A scene from new South African film Blitz Patrollie

A new local action comedy and first feature film by Diprente Films promises spectacular stunts and features some of South Africa’s top comedians.

Blitz Patrollie finished production in October and aims to make a ‘hilarious and memorable contribution to the growing South African film landscape’ when it hits cinemas in the first quarter of 2012.
“I thought it would be cool to make a mass appeal type of action comedy with working class heroes,” explains writer and producer Kagiso Lediga.

The popular comedian developed the film with his partners at production company Diprente Films, Isaac Mogajane and John Volmink.

“We thought this type of film could be done low budget,” says Lediga, “but then it kept on growing and growing up to this point.”

According to Mogajane, everyone who read the script wanted to get involved. “I think because of the concept and the talent we had attached, as well as the script, we ended up with access to quite a bit of funding.”

The film was financed through the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) rebate, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and the Gauteng Film Commission (GFC).

Homage to Joburg

Blitz Patrollie follows two ‘buddy’ police officers, Rummy Augustine (Joey Rasdien) and Ace Dikolobe (David Kau).

“Rummy is quite happy, he just wants to start a family and provide for them, but he is quite an emasculated character and he gets a hard time from his mother-in-law. Ace is the opposite, he can think of nothing better to do in the morning than head out to kick some bad guy ass. They stumble across a big narcotics haul, but then lose it, and have to shoot their way out of the situation,” explains Lediga.

Also starring David Kibuuka, Chris Forrest, Mel Miller, Craig Urbani, June van Merch and Kid Sithole, the film was shot on location in Houghton, Hillbrow, Ruimsig, Yeoville, the Johannesburg CBD and Maraisburg.

According to the filmmakers, the film pays homage to Johannesburg and its many contradictions. “The Johannesburg city centre is the heart of the movie,” explains Mogajane.

“Because it’s set in a specific police precinct, it served as a cool sort of way to create the boundaries of the film,” notes Lediga. “Johannesburg has never been captured in a cinematic way and the idea was to do that.”

“Although it doesn’t try to depict Johannesburg in any specific way,” adds Mogajane.

Dirty

The film is skewed towards a male audience. “The approach is very old school. There is a lot of concern about it being too dirty, and talk about making it more accessible. But the broader you make it, the more diluted you make it,” notes Lediga.

They expect that the film will receive a 16 age restriction for violence and strong language. “Most films in this genre have 16 restrictions. I believe it will be a better film for it,” says Mogajane. “It is unashamedly an action film. It deals with serious issues like crime and corruption, but the script is hilarious, it’s a page turner. We didn’t want to make a film accessible to everyone and water down the ideas.”

Stunts were done by Global Stunts & SFX. “We’re competing with Hollywood, so we’re trying to create spectacle,” says Lediga.

Although they don’t want to give away the surprises in store for viewers, they promise ‘lots of gags, car chases, gun play and fights’.

“Ministry of Illusion provided some very nice special effects. We tried to do as much in camera as possible. It gives better results, and is cheaper,” notes Mogajane.

Local audience

He adds that, although they hope to compete with international films, Blitz Patrollie is targeted only at a South African audience. He believes local comedy will give them an edge over usual Hollywood fare.

“The only way for us to compete is to make it comedy action, as opposed to action comedy. We have lots of local stars in the film and the comedians especially come with a massive following,” says Mogajane.

He adds that their marketing plan is almost as ambitious as the film itself. “We’ve covered all bases. There will be trailers on TV and we will tie it in to live shows of the comedians involved.”

“We might also have the greatest trailer ever,” adds Lediga. “It’s going to kick ass. We’ve also done a lot of prep and technically and artistically we’ve used the best people possible.”
The film is directed by Andrew Wessels with director of photography Manuel Lappier shooting in high definition on the Arri Alexa, also making use of a Phantom for slow motion and the RED Epic and Canon 5D for additional footage. Rentals came from Media Film Service.

“There is a strong comic book element to the cinematography,” says Lediga, with Mogajane adding: “We wanted it to look very good.”

Sound post-production will be done at Cut & Paste and off-line post-production at Digital Post. The score was composed by 37mph, a young hip-hop producer.

“Most of the cast and crew were involved in the Pure Monate Show,” explains Lediga. “But there’s a maturity that’s come about from putting together a project of this size.”

Mogajane agrees that the cast and crew stepped up to the challenge. “We are making a film that is a lot bigger than the budget allows, and everyone involved really shone. We shot 177 scenes in 30 days.”

They hope to attract local audiences by delivering on top notch comedy and spectacular action sequences, and doing something that hasn’t been done before. “There is no silver bullet. But I still think this is a golden age of South African filmmaking. I’m optimistic; I really think this can be a sustainable business,” says Mogajane.

SCREENAFRICA Print Magazine – November 2011 (view here)
By Linda Krige

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