Real humour in the movies is something to be treasured. By real humour I mean humour that does not rely on all the old faecal, sitcom, slapstick standbys. Humour is even more precious in South African cinema, which seems so focused on retelling stories of past trauma that there is little room for a laugh. Bunny Chow — Know Thyself, a low-budget feature with roots in TV’s Pure Monate Show, generates some real humour that is part of a general texture alert to all absurdities and ironies. And not only does Bunny Chow have laughs, it has youth, energy and style.
The structure of the story is simple and its easy-going assemblage is part of the movie’s charm. In a semi-improvised form that works to make the movie a sort of spoof documentary crossed with a home movie, it focuses on three stand-up comics on their way to the Oppikoppi music festival. Before we head out on that trip, though, we’re given some background on their lives in the city — their romances, in particular, none of which is running smoothly.
The comedians in question are played by David Kibuuka, Kagiso Lediga and Joey Rasdien, more or less as themselves, with Kibuuka emerging as something like the emotional centre of the film. While Rasdien has a hilarious episode to do with uncautious drug-taking at the festival, it is the Kibuuka character’s story that holds the film together and provides what Hollywood scriptwriting gurus call an “arc”.
Although he’s not one of the official practising or wannabe comedians, Cope (Jason Cope), the bumbling white guy who gets foisted on the others for the journey, is as funny as any of them. This character in particular is a work of comic brilliance, and even as one sympathises with his unfortunate fellow-travellers in their annoyance at his antics, one rather feels for him — as one would for a younger, deeply embarrassing self.
Directed by John Barker, the film is shot in stylish black and white, which covers up most of the pixelÂated deficiencies of seeing digital footage on the big screen, and the excellent soundtrack (put together by Joel Assaizky) adds to the film’s punch. It includes work by MXO, Louis Mhlanga, Freshlyground, Max Normal and others, and gives much variety to the sounds of the movie — as is appropriate for the tale of a road trip heading for a music festival. A welcome discovery is the Junior Musicians’ Yacht Club, who have yet to release an album, but at least one of their songs here (end-credit number The Beat Track), deserves international exposure and success.
If Bunny Chow — Know Thyself has a flaw beyond its awkward title (the “know thyself” part bounces off some avuncular advice given by Andy “The Admiral” Kasrils), it’s that we don’t really see the stand-ups in action. Okay, so by the time they actually get to Oppikoppi things are falling apart, but it would have been good to see them on stage somewhere, either back in Jozi or at Oppikoppi, doing what they do for a living. That would have deepened the characterisation, and we’d have had yet more laughs in a very amusing movie.