The Gods Must be Crazy (South Africa: 1980)

Director

Jamie Uys

Cast list

Marius Weyers ...
Sandra Prinsloo ...
N!xau ...
Louw Verwey ...
Michael Thys ...
Nic de Jager ...
Fanyana H. Sidumo ...
Card 1
Joe Seakatsie ...
Card 2
Brian O'Shaughnessy ...
Mr. Thompson
Ken Gampu ...
President
Paddy O'Byrne ...
Narrator (voice)

Credits

Produced by

Boet Troskie ... executive producer
Jamie Uys ... producer

Music by

Johnny Boshoff ... (as John Boshoff)

Cinematography by

Robert Lewis
Buster Reynolds
Jamie Uys

Film Editing by

Jamie Uys

Art Direction by

Caroline Burls ... (uncredited)

Costume Design by

Gail Grobbelaar
Mij Reynolds

Makeup Department

William Bell ... makeup artist (as Bill Bell)
Olga Lombard ... makeup artist

More

Synopsis

Xi is a Sho in the Kalahari Desert. His tribe has had no contact with the Western world. Then a Coke bottle is found, which the tribe views as a gift from the gods. However competition to control the bottle causes violence within the tribe. Xi takes the bottle on a quest to throw it off the edge of the world. On his quest he meets a diverse group of characters such as a biologist, a schoolteacher who becomes a love interest, and a guerilla leader. Xi is thrown in jail over a misunderstanding about a goat he was trying to eat, but to avoid the jail sentence he is hired as a tracker by the biologist. While working as a tracker he saves the schoolteacher and her students from the guerillas holding them hostage. The biologist allows Xi to go free and he throws the Coke bottle off a large cliff, which he believes to be the edge of the world, and returns to his tribe.

Reviews

Roger Ebert, The Gods Must be Crazy, rogertebert.com

Austin Kennedy, The Gods Must be Crazy (1980), The 1 and only film geek (blog)

Emanuel Levy, Gods Must be Crazy, The (1981), EmanuelLevy Cinema 24/7 (website)

The Gods Must be Crazy, Common Sense Media (film rating website)

Academic Articles:

Volkman, Toby. “The Gods Must be Crazy by Jamie Uys.” America Anthropologist 87: 482-484.

Hunter, Linda. “”The Gods Must be Crazy”: Unsolicited Opinions.” Issue: A Journal of Opinion 14: 34.

Lee, Richard. “The Gods Must be Crazy, but the State has a Plan: Government Policies towards the San in Namibia.” Canadian Journal of African Studies 20: 91-98. Web.

Other movies from South Africa made in

Title Country Year Director More infos
The Gods Must be Crazy South Africa 1980 Jamie Uys
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