“Soldiers of the Rock” Review
Norman Maake’s directorial debut is cinematic/karmic kaleidoscope encompasses a boiling and poignant saga of the fraternity of determination and Shaka Zulu like strength that is the bedrock of a cadre of South African gold miners. Depending on the view on takes, these gallant men are centurions who ritualistic surgeons who daily descend into the bowels of Mamma Africa to extract precious gems or “boo-yaa” as gold is known amongst the miners and in the contemporary parlance of hip-hop and the bling-bling aficionados…The work of cinematographer Natalie Haarhof and the compositions of Benjamin Willem offer an honor and dignity to the claustrophobic courage and hellish handsome spirit of the ensemble cast. Vuyo, a young man returns to the mines to make “peace with the spirit” of his father, who toiled for 35 years in the mines and died when he was struck upon the head and his wages willed that his son’s could educated. Amidst drumming, drilling and blasting the young business student is met with trepidation by his father’s comrades but experiences exorcise epiphany below ground level among the workers on the lowest and most dangerous levels of the mine. A juxtaposition of gold, gore and glory, this excursion commanders the audience from sunrise to sunset and beyond the darkness that must come emerges from light of the worker-owned and operated New Vision Mines. The conga cadence of whimpering, cursing, chanting, fighting and fearless warriors. Is candid, courageous and simply devastatingly stunning
The tense, taunt tale of a show down in the shaft covers the fine features of handsome men and the mysticism that inevitable bathes there soul of golden dust. Stunning cinematography accentuates that further and fate of the magnificent miners against tradition and change, tribalism and the counsel of Banda, the mine witchdoctor. The protagonist Vuyo is a virgin man in this scenario of jaded souls, but nonetheless monarch because of their courage and persistence. This tour de force is ultimately a glory tale of post-apartheid bittersweet victory.
Featured Director
Norman Maake
Born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1979, Norman Maake is a graduate of AFDA (the South African School of Motion Picture Medium and Live Performance) where he made the short film Home Sweet Home (1999), and the feature film Soldiers of the Rock (2003), winner of Best Screenplay at PAFF 2003 and the Mario Van Peebles award in 2004. Maake went on to display talent in television commercials but was drawn back to his passion for long form drama directing. Homecoming, his much acclaimed three hour TV mini-series, was cut into a feature film (2005). Norman directed the mini series Entabeni, an adaptation of Macbeth, in 2007, and in 2010 he directed the mini series Unsung Hero about the Soweto String Quartet founder, Mike Masote. In 2008 Norman wrote the screenplay The Fighting Prince about a South African boxer, and was signed up by James Schamus of Focus Features to direct this and two other films, but the project was eventually put on hold when the debt crisis hit the world. In 2011 Norman directed the 13×48 mins drama series Skeem Saam, produced by Winnie Serite and David Max Brown. Norman Maake’s film Love Lives Here was released nationwide in cinemas in 2019. Learn More
About the Author
Mejeke K. Maurice Jones
Mejeke K. Maurice Jones, or K. Maurice Jones, is a published author. He has published three books, Say it Loud/Story of Rap Music (1994), Say it Loud, Trd (1994), and Spike Lee and the African American Filmmakers: A Choice of Colors (1996). Learn More
