Dollars and White Pipes 2005
Directed by Donovan Marsh, this independent film was made on a shoestring and is one of the better examples of post-apartheid cinema from South Africa. Set in the 1980s, it tells the supposedly ‘true’ story of Bernie Baatjies, a ‘Cape Coloured’ according to the old system of racial classification, who was born into a life of grinding poverty and endemic drug abuse.
Touchingly inspired by the capitalist dream personified by Dallas on the tv, Bernie works his way up until he fulfils his dream of running his own night club. For a brief while, he tastes the fruits of success until the criminal underworld ruins everything. Dollars is essentially a Candide story; a familiar ‘rags to riches’ – and back to rags again – fable; but an engaging performance by Clint Brink in the lead role and a detached (though never unkind) sense of humour about its subject matter lift it above the ordinary.
The World Of The Story: the dark beneath the surface
The film starts with a dark distorted sequence and then launches into a brightly lit one, very reminiscent of the cinematic style of Trainspotting, in which the hero laconically sketches in for us the hopelessness and predictability of his situation.
This sets the tone for the rest of the film: a lurch between what might be called a misguided optimism and the looming spectre of failure and self-destruction. Bernie is a naive character, albeit a sly one, and we are meant to like him (unlike Renton in Trainspotting). He’s also an underdog who might deserve our sympathy for social and historical reasons but the film is wise enough never to exploit them explicitly.
David Clough ©2011