Colors Of Heaven: Review

5th February 2022

Colors Of Heaven: Review. By Daniel Pollock.

Celebrating a recently passed ten year anniversary, the award-winning Colors of Heaven has seen a slight resurgence off the back of streaming releases on Amazon Prime and Netflix, and with debate raging over attempts to label Israel as an apartheid state, it is worth looking back at this depiction of a fundamentally and constitutionally divided South Africa. Based on a true story, the film opens in 1976 with two child actors and best mates, Muntu Ndebele and Norman Knox, navigating their careers, love lives and newfound success. However, as political and racial tensions rise, the two lifelong friends quickly find themselves on opposing sides of a race-driven war. As the open warfare of the 70’s gives way to terrorist insurgency in the 80’s, the two men, along with Muntu’s lost lover Sabela, must find a way to define their place in a crumbling nation, and face the monsters left in the ruins.

This is a truly fascinating story with a unique friendship at its centre. It’s a shame then that this tale isn’t served by stronger filmmaking. Director Peter Bishai presents a piece that seemingly struggles with a lot of ideas and questions, but none are explored in a meaningful way due to the structural and creative issues present in the movie. Powerful moments are undercut by character interactions lacking subtext and subtlety, as well as uniformly pragmatic shot selection that gives us little insight beyond the surface level interpretation, which tends to weaken the emotional impact of some scenes that should be truly shocking at best, and completely emotionally devastating at worst. For the larger set pieces, the film often deploys a significant number of extras, which brings a much needed sense of scale to proceedings, but it’s often not enough to compensate for a creative team who use them ineffectually.

Additionally, too much focus is placed on a romantic relationship that hardly feels recognisable as love from the start. Sabela has an urgent story to tell of her own, that of a woman who cannot conceive trapped in an arranged marriage to a local powerful chief demanding an heir, as she forges deep relationships with the tribe’s women. This feels like an entire story on its own, and does not thematically entwine successfully with both the racial tensions present in the relationship between Muntu and Norman, nor the murkier, violent black-on-black issues within the community. It feels instead like an element that was kept not because it served the story, but to stay faithful to the truth, which ironically adds to the feeling of inauthenticity that Bishai has fostered. Funny things, movies.

On the flip side, I did appreciate a handful of the cast. Wandile Molebatsi is the standout, bringing great charisma and buoyant energy to his depiction of Muntu, elevating the character beyond what he is given to work with. A wide-eyed, maniacal turn by Mpho Osei Tutu as local gangster and ongoing antagonist Bomba is also of note amongst the cast. Beyond that, performances are found wanting, though it’s difficult to build a character of note with such little quality material. One thing worth noting: while some characters are left floundering, they are all impeccably dressed in the most intense period-if-not-conventionally-appropriate outfits your grandmother’s money could buy. Give the costume person a medal, or at least a better gig.

Colors of Heaven is meant to be a triumphant, bittersweet movie – South Africa is ostensibly liberated, our heroes find peace on the other side of war, but the battle for the hearts and minds of the people rages on. And yet, it falls so short of the mark. Muntu and Norman’s fraught friendship is intense and evocative, though Bishai and his crew could not complement it with equally powerful filmmaking. Perhaps it is worth reassessment by defter hands.

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