Material (2012)
December 25, 2022 10:46 PM - Subscribe

Cassim is a young Muslim man who works in his father's fabric shop in Johannesburg. However, Cassim wants to be a stand-up comedian, which his father disproves of. When he gets a gig at a local bar, he has to find a way of keeping...

Beautiful movie with a remarkable sense of place. Layered and compassionate.

The only criticism I have is that the ending is a bit unbelievable, and the romance sub plot completely unnecessary.

The Material Difference

“One of the reasons I was excited about the story was because the milieu is a character, so Fordsburg has a very particular character which does feel to me will be very rich on screen. Besides the schism between father and son, there’s the divide between tradition and what the character is trying to do as a stand up comedian. All these different worlds collide amid beautiful images of Johannesburg and Fordsburg which illustrate the contradiction of trying to live a traditional life in a very cosmopolitan city.

“We have had so much help from the people of Fordsburg and from the Muslim community who have gently guided us on a number of aspects of the film that relate to faith. We were looking for a mosque to shoot in and Joey (Rasdien), who also stars in the film, took us to his mosque and the imam let us in. It felt a bit like going beyond the veil because when we first started with the project we tried to meet people to help us and it wasn’t that easy because the people are quite shy and very private. But they have so much respect for Riaad. As soon as you mention his name doors open.”
posted by Zumbador
 
« Older A Storm for Christmas: Julesto...   |  The Recruit: Season One... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster