The Gods Must Be Crazy

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The Gods Must Be Crazy is a movie released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in Botswana, it tells the story of Xi (pronounced 'Gee' with a hard 'G'), a Bushman of the Kalahari Desert (played by Namibian bush farmer Nǃxau) whose tribe has no contact or knowledge of the world beyond. The film is followed by four sequels.

Tagline (USA): An epic comedy of absurd proportions.

The Gods Must Be Crazy I & II

The first two films both present the Bushmen as noble savages leading a simple, fairly utopian life in contrast with western culture. There are several slapstick situations, accentuated by the use of fast motion.

These films, and the songs of Miriam Makeba, are probably the only exposure to a click consonant language for most people living outside of southwest Africa.^{[citation needed]} Conversely, the arrival of a Coca-cola bottle thrown from a passing light aircraft represents the only exposure that the bushmen have with western culture, reminiscent of so-called New Guinean 'Cargo Cults'.

While a large Western white audience found the films funny, there was some considerable debate about its racial politics. The portrayal of Xi (particularly in the first film) as the naive innocent incapable of understanding the ways of the "gods" was viewed by some as patronising and insulting. The film was banned in Trinidad and Tobago for this reason. However, its many fans believe that it is exactly the opposite, a send-up of so-called civilization and condemnation of racism with Xi as the hero.

Some of the debate centered on Xi's reaction to the first white people he met, assuming they were gods since they were strange (he had only known Bushmen before), road vehicles (which he also had never seen before), and were comparatively huge. However, within minutes he began doubting they were gods. The second film clearly shows Xi's greater understanding as he tells the children about the people he had met: "heavy people ... who seem to know some magic that can make things move," but are "not very bright, because they can't survive without their magic contrivances."

It should also be noted that the films' depictions of the Bushmen, even if they were accurate in the 1980s (also a source of debate), are clearly no longer accurate. The DVD's special feature "Journey to Nyae Nyae" (N!xau's homeland in northeastern Namibia), filmed in 2003, demonstrates this.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

The first film is a collision of three separate stories--Xi's, the romance between a klutzy scientist and a schoolteacher, and a band of terrorists on the run.

The bushmen of Xi's tribe are living well off the land. They are happy because the "gods" have provided plenty of everything, so no one in the tribe has unfilled wants. One day, the pilot of a passing airplane drops a glass Coke bottle. Initially, this strange artifact seems to be a boon from the gods, with many uses being discovered for it. But unlike anything that they have had before, there is only one bottle to share among all members of the tribe. The tribe members soon find themselves suffering from what they have never had before; envy, hate and violence.

It is decided that the bottle, renamed "the evil thing", must be disposed of permanently by throwing it off of the edge of the world. Xi volunteers for the task. As he travels in his quest he encounters members of western civilization for the first time. The film presents an interesting interpretation of civilization as viewed through Xi's perceptions.

There are also plot lines about a biologist who is studying the local animals, and the newly-hired village school teacher, and some guerrillas that unsuccessfully attempted a coup so they are being pursued by government troops. Xi encounters both groups with his unique perspective.

Xi eventually finds himself at the top of a cliff with a solid layer of low-lying clouds obscuring the landscape below. This gives Xi the convincing illusion that it is indeed the edge of the world, and he throws the bottle from there. This was filmed at a place called God's Window in what was then called the Eastern Transvaal, South Africa (now a separate province called Mpumalanga). This is at the edge of the escarpment between the high and low-velds of South Africa.

The Gods Must Be Crazy II

A sequel The Gods Must Be Crazy II, was filmed in 1985 but not released until 1989. In it, Xi's two young children encounter poachers in the Kalahari and explore the back of their truck, and become unable to jump off once it starts moving. Xi must once again travel great distances to retrieve them, and once again encounters various other western characters who are on quests of their own. The film is notable for the increased role of animals throughout the story, and for its light-hearted treatment of the civil war still raging in nearby Angola at the time.

The Gods Must Be Crazy III – V

Three further low-budget and unauthorized sequels were filmed in Cantonese by Hong Kong filmmakers:

• Fei zhou he shang (非洲和尚, literally: An African Buddhist Monk) (1991) (aka Crazy Safari, Vampires Must Be Crazy, or The Gods Must Be Crazy III) (Amazon.com page)
• Heonggong ya fungkwong (1993) (aka Crazy Hong Kong or Xianggang ye feng kuang (香港也瘋狂, literally: And Hong Kong Goes Crazy, Mandarin title))
• Fei zhou chao ren (非洲超人, literally: An African Superman) (1994) (aka The Gods Must Be Funny in China)

These were intended as pure comedies, and are not considered as good as the first two films.

As of 2006, these last three films have not been released theatrically in the United States, although they have been released on VCD format in China. The most recent, The Gods Must Be Funny, has recently been released on DVD[1] in Uys' native South Africa.

External links

• The Gods Must Be Crazy at the Internet Movie Database
• The Gods Must Be Crazy II at the Internet Movie Database
• Fei zhou he shang (The Gods Must Be Crazy III) at the Internet Movie Database
• Heonggong ya fungkwong (The Gods Must Be Crazy IV) at the Internet Movie Database
• Fei zhou chao ren (The Gods Must Be Crazy V) at the Internet Movie Database