The parallels between William Golding’s classic novel Lord of the Flies and the popular television series Lost (Wednesday: M-Net, 20:00) are obvious. A bunch of strangers, with wildly different personalities, are stranded on an island and have to create a new society.
While many of us ‘killed the pig” of the novel by over-studying it at school, the premise remains as fascinating — as the popularity of the show, now returning for its second season, indicates.
In the new season, the stranded passengers continue exploring the secrets of the island, while continuing the daily struggle to stay alive — not unlike Survivor either, only scripted. The group are plagued by the howls of a mysterious creature, a marooned and possibly insane French woman, a mystical boar, a mysterious group known only as ‘The Others” and a ship called The Black Rock.
Two new characters are also introduced in the new series. Whether this stretches the premise of a deserted island remains to be seen. Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious) plays a previously unknown survivor of the crash and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Oz) plays a mysterious island man.
A morbid fascination with the dark potential of human nature is undeniable. The whole horror-movie genre is based on it — take zombie flicks like Dawn of the Dead (Friday: M-Net, 22:00), starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames and Mekhi Phifer. The story is standard: zombies have overrun a small town and a few lone survivors shack up in the local mall to try and stay alive. Unlike its 1978 predecessor, however, the remake doesn’t have a thought in its head — no scathing commentary on United States consumerism, conformism or militarism. The only thing the movie is interested in is being as scary, violent and gory as possible.
Shakespeare was another investigator of the fallibility of human nature. SABC3 continues its Friday night season of the Bard with Othello (22:00), starring Laurence Fishburn as the Moor Othello with Kenneth Branagh as his deceiving friend Iago. Iago convinces Othello that his wife, Desdemona, has been unfaithful. A plot of jealousy and rage transpires.
The SABC’s series of movies from Africa also continues with Sia, Le Reve du Python (Saturday: SABC2, 23:00) and Moi et Mon Blanc (Wednesday: SABC1, 00:30), both from Burkina Faso. In the award-winning Sia: The Dream of the Python, filmmaker Dani Kouyaté continues to seek a cinematic voice for the griot, the traditional singer-storyteller whose responsibility it was to convey history and culture orally. Although based on legend, the film takes on a contemporary feel with political undercurrents. Moi et Mon Blanc (Me and My White Pal) is a decidely contemporary crime caper about an African student in France who finds a bag full of drugs.