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Of Good Report: Sick Yet Morbidly Compelling – PAFF 2014

By Ural Garrett · February 7, 2014

By now, much has been said about South African director Jahmil X.T. Qubeka and his controversial film Of Good Report. Whether labeled as child porn by the Rainbow Nation’s government or almost being banned at last year’s Durban International Film Festival, this contemporary take on film noir is equally as engrossing as it is disturbing.

Mothusi Magano embodies the reticent and dangerously collective Parker Sithole, a man who comes across as creepy in each scene. After landing a teaching gig at a rural high school, he ends at a local club where he meets Petronella Tshuma’s portrayal of 16-year-old Nolitha. At some point, the two engage in sexual activity that night. Things get tricky as he realizes on his first day on the job that Nolitha is a student in the literature class he teaches. Instead of leaving things well alone, the two engage in an affair setting off Of Good Report’s uneasy narrative on both thematic and structural levels. Lets not forget the classic he’s teaching during the film’s duration is Shakespearian tragedy Othello.

Qubeka described Of Good Report as the story of Little Red Riding Hood told from the wolf’s perspective. For many American audiences, the film may feel like a longer episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit featuring the point-of-view of the perpetrator. This what makes every 149 minute runtime so captivating. Viewers will understand Parker is going to kill Nolitha eventually within the film’s first ten minutes, part of the intrigue is watching everyone from policewoman Arendse (Lee-Ann Van Rooi) to school headmistress(Tina Jaxa) piece everything together. Making everything believable are great performances from Magano and a 20-year-old Tshuma.

The chemistry built between the two feels well established as an already dark situation gets progressively worse. For someone who is relatively silent throughout the film, Magano's various facial expressions manages to tell Parker’s story without uttering one word. Many Of Good Report’’s more interesting scenes involves flashbacks with Parker’s abusive relationship with his mother and military service in the Congo; giving context to his psychotic actions.  It’s Tshuma, who steals the scene as a teenager who dances (literally and figuratively) with danger long enough to meet her demise at the hand of an extremely obsessive Parker.

Everything is pulled together thanks to Qubeka’s sleek and stylish monochrome visuals. The rural backdrop of South Africa is eye-catching. Of Good Report’s surreal opening involving Parker removing teeth from his cranium could potentially disgust some and mesmerize others depending on the viewer. Qubeka’s script also allows each of the country’s eleven official languages to weave in-and out believably dialogue wise. There’s even a very interesting soundtrack that stretches to various genres within the African diaspora including traditional African folk, Hip-Hop and jazz though there’s one particular bit involving the tango.

Of Good Report is a challenging piece of work with a premiss that’s sure to offend, shock or fascinate. Maybe it’d do all three.  One thing is guaranteed, whoever watches will have plenty to discuss following its shocking conclusion.