If you haven’t heard by now, Jerusalema is pure commercial and entertainment bliss. Building on the legacy and love-hate relationship of the SA gangster image from films like Mapantsula, Hijack Stories and Tsotsi . Jerusalema takes its well deserved place as an entertaining, thoughtful and endearing film. It may be not as iconic as City of God per se, but its way better than American Gangster. It offers more humour and action than Tsotsi and speaks to us way better than Bakgat, Schuster or even all the crazy monkey movies combined.

The plot is simple, young Lucky Kunene wants the good life but he can’t attain it because he does not have money to get an education .Why doesn’t he just get a study loan!? Well that would be nit picking but he decides to go the criminal route to finance he’s studies. In no time thanks to his best friend former guerrilla (and not gorilla fighter) big brother Nazareth, Lucky and his best friend Zakes, have dropped any allusions of going to school and find themselves on the path of being criminals which lead them to Hilbrow ; hijacking buildings, facing off with the Nigerians,prostitutes and the Cops.

Jafta Mamobolo plays the young Lucky Kunene and Motlatsi Mahloko the young Zakes, who in the heydays of 1994 find themselves with their whole life infront of them and opportunities opened up for them due to the new found freedom. But the unchanging economic – socio condition in their livelihoods seems to let those same opportunities pass them by,opportunities such as going to university cause there is no money. The two boys end up being young goons for the enigmatic and morally grey Nazereth. 

Ralph Ziman ‘s (writer/director) script is full of wit, inside jokes and ostentatious humour and it is when Jafta and Motlatsi are on screen that we see most of it. From a very poignant and very funny hijacking scene, committed by the young boys who can’t even drive to a shop robbery using lady’s underwear as a weapon of choice,that goes terribly wrong. Ziman is able to balance the humour with the drama and yet represent the young boys as just kids, and not hardened criminals who we should despise. The two boys set the tone of the film. I’ll be on the look out especially for Jafta ,I think he is going to go far.

The older version of Zakes and Lucky are played by Ronnie Nyakala aka Papa Action from the first season of Yizo Yizo, whilst Lucky is played by Rapulane Sepheimo. Whose featured in a lot of gangster movies from Hijack stories to Tsotsi even generation. Ronnie has proven that he can do ghetto in Portrait of a young man drowning , teens on a tight rope and of course Yizo Yizo. By the time these two pitch up the theme of crime being used as a form of entrepreneurship to the disillusioned is firmly fixed. Cause no matter how legit  the guys want to go, they can’t seem to make it but when the embrace their criminal roots. They are more successful than when they were legit. Does that say crime pays in the new SA? Mmmmh.

Their counterparts are the fore mentioned Nazareth played by Jefrey Sekele. Whom I’ve never seen on SA tv or film before but plays he’s character so perfectly well and gives a very convincing performance.He kind of reminded me of Scar in the Lion King, the older role model that could have been something way better than it was. Then there’s Malusi Skenjani who relishes playing the enigmatic and the devil in a pimp suit Nigerian drug lord Tony Ngu and even old Bernand from Rhythm City , Robert Hobbs makes an appearance as Det.Blackie Swart .Lucky and Zakes’s chief nemesis.

Overall Jerusalema delivers on action, from the ostentatious robberies that are inspired by hollywood movies and some good research by Ziman. To the police crashing into buildings doing raids, this was usually done by the Americans but Ziman proved that we can do it too. Jerusalema also poses some very unnerving questions, if jo’burg is our city of gold as Jerusalema of the bible is supposed to be. How come are it’s people living in so much squalor, is it the fault of big business? Is it the fault of government? Can the hijacking of buildings been seen as the residence empowering themselves or is it just greed exploiting the poor? But above everything, for me Jerusalema proves that we can start to tell our stories, without making them too heady and yet make them relevant and entertaining. The film is not perfect but it’s on the right track and I hope we all go out there and support it cause it’s actually really really good, did I mention that I think its better than American gangster?