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A brilliant twist
Jocelyn Newmarch
Posted Thu, 29 Sep 2005
It's so refreshing to watch a really good movie — one that does everything right, from cinematography and direction to acting and script — and realise that it's a local production.
One reason why local movies aren't always as good as they should be is the lack of funding available, forcing directors to cut corners and keep costs down as much as possible. But 'Twist's' director, Tim Greene, came up with a novel solution to this ubiquitous problem.
Getting someone to give your R1-million for your movie is nearly impossible. Finding two people to each give you R500 000 is almost as hard. But... finding a thousand people to each give you R1000 might just be do-able.
That's the innovative premise Tim Greene came up with, and his thousand funders each get an "associate producer" credit at the end of the film. Thanks to them, and grants from South African organisations, 'Twist' is one of very few films that can call itself wholly South African.
Greene's creativity extends from financing through to storytelling, and his adaptation of Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' is extremely well-done. For once, Cape Town isn't standing in for Los Angeles or Miami, but is allowed to be its own contradictory self. And despite the quintessentially Victorian concerns of the original novel, Greene has transposed it into a movie that sensitively depicts South African socio-economic concerns.
A young mother dies in childbirth on the lonely West Coast, and her son given to the local orphanage, run by Mrs Corlet, who names her charges after the classics. 'Oliver' was already taken, so the newcomer (Jarrid Gedult) becomes 'Twist'.
After a cruel adventure at the hands of the local undertaker's household, Twist decides it's time for him to seek his fortune in the big city, where he soon falls into the hands of Fagin (Leslie Fong), Bill Sykes (Bart Fouche), and his prostitute girlfriend Nancy (Kim Engelbrecht), who all have their own motives for looking out for the boy. Then, true to the Dickens tale, he is taken in by a kindly gentleman (Bill Curry) — his grandfather, though neither realise their relationship.
The action is pacy, the villains memorable and cruel, the heroes never overplay themselves. Greene has picked the cream of South African actors for his feature, and they're a pleasure to watch. I particularly enjoyed Fong's rendition of Fagin.
Street children are an everyday feature of Cape Town life, and with heartwrenching faces and beseeching hands at every red robot, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.
Too often, our helplessness is transformed into callousness. But 'A Boy Called Twist' never fails to remind us that these kids are just as human as we are, without sentimentalising or proselytising.
