Dust Devil
Dust Devil surprised me. I expected the standard fare in horror movies, it turned out that Dust Devil wasn't just a horror movie. It was a bit mystical, a bit fantasy -- and yes, a bit horror too, but don't let that distract you. The movie is set in South Africa, although some scenes were shot in Namibia. It follows Inspector Ben Mukurob, played by Zakes Mokae, who's tracking a serial killer through the desert towards the western coast and the sea. As Mukurob investigates, the case becomes more and more mysterious. The murders seem to be ritualistic in nature -- and murders of the pattern he's seeing have been recorded for since the early 20th century. The killer, played by Robert Burke, has been stalking his latest victim, Wendy Robinson, played by Chelsea Field, across the desert. Wendy is running from her husband and when she encounters the Dust Devil, she takes him to be a nice guy -- until she finds his collection of fingers from his former victims. The scene is then set for the showdown between Mukurob, the Dust Devil and Wendy.
Behind the horror, the movie also provided social commentary on racism in South Africa. The uneasy coexistence of the races gave the movie a quiet, but powerful tension. It charged different scenes with a disturbing undercurrent that at times was more unsettling than what the Dust Devil was doing. Mukurob is a black inspector with white officers under him -- yet his position of authority grants him nothing in their eyes. When he stops two corporals from beating a black, handcuffed witness in a jail cell, you could read what wasn't being said. They knew that if the Inspector was white, there would be no problem. You could also see them deliberating whether they should attack him too. In one scene, Wendy's car is stuck. She gets help from a black man to push it -- and she takes off. Once she could move, she didn't stick around to give him the chance to take advantage of a white woman. Wendy's husband, a former soldier in the South African army, is beaten mercilessly for appearing by mistake in an all black bar, instead of going in on the all white side of the bar. Mukurob is even told by a shaman, played by John Matshikiza, that he needs to stop being a white man in order to fight the Dust Devil -- he needs to start being a (black) man in order to understand the spirit world.
The cinematography is superb. There is long stretches of empty roads with the desert on either side -- desolate and barren. Sand is everywhere, dry with a melancholy personality -- sculpting the landscape with a sad beauty. There is one scene where Wendy and the Dust Devil are at the precipice, overlooking the sinuous Fish River Canyon (second largest after the Grand Canyon) -- the Dust Devil describes it as being made by some god that crawled into the world. It is a primordial and awe inspiring land. The tone and imagery of the desert is dreamlike -- which the movie plays with a lot. What is real and unreal doesn't matter -- only possibilities do. The ghosts from the characters past haunt their present, as if looking for some conclusion, appearing in their dreams to haunt the present with guilt. Similarly, the abandoned and dying towns that the Dust Devil visits are almost characters in their own right -- their ghosts almost palpable in the movie. It all works -- the desert landscape; the towns abandoned or falling into economic ruin; the sand that is everywhere; the decay of the social condition; and the story of the Dust Devil. It all comes alive with sad and eerie beauty.
If you're looking for something a little scary, a little haunting, check out Dust Devil. Chances are, you won't be disappointed.
Behind the horror, the movie also provided social commentary on racism in South Africa. The uneasy coexistence of the races gave the movie a quiet, but powerful tension. It charged different scenes with a disturbing undercurrent that at times was more unsettling than what the Dust Devil was doing. Mukurob is a black inspector with white officers under him -- yet his position of authority grants him nothing in their eyes. When he stops two corporals from beating a black, handcuffed witness in a jail cell, you could read what wasn't being said. They knew that if the Inspector was white, there would be no problem. You could also see them deliberating whether they should attack him too. In one scene, Wendy's car is stuck. She gets help from a black man to push it -- and she takes off. Once she could move, she didn't stick around to give him the chance to take advantage of a white woman. Wendy's husband, a former soldier in the South African army, is beaten mercilessly for appearing by mistake in an all black bar, instead of going in on the all white side of the bar. Mukurob is even told by a shaman, played by John Matshikiza, that he needs to stop being a white man in order to fight the Dust Devil -- he needs to start being a (black) man in order to understand the spirit world.
The cinematography is superb. There is long stretches of empty roads with the desert on either side -- desolate and barren. Sand is everywhere, dry with a melancholy personality -- sculpting the landscape with a sad beauty. There is one scene where Wendy and the Dust Devil are at the precipice, overlooking the sinuous Fish River Canyon (second largest after the Grand Canyon) -- the Dust Devil describes it as being made by some god that crawled into the world. It is a primordial and awe inspiring land. The tone and imagery of the desert is dreamlike -- which the movie plays with a lot. What is real and unreal doesn't matter -- only possibilities do. The ghosts from the characters past haunt their present, as if looking for some conclusion, appearing in their dreams to haunt the present with guilt. Similarly, the abandoned and dying towns that the Dust Devil visits are almost characters in their own right -- their ghosts almost palpable in the movie. It all works -- the desert landscape; the towns abandoned or falling into economic ruin; the sand that is everywhere; the decay of the social condition; and the story of the Dust Devil. It all comes alive with sad and eerie beauty.
If you're looking for something a little scary, a little haunting, check out Dust Devil. Chances are, you won't be disappointed.
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