Publications
Partners
What it's about:
I am Luna van Wyk. A 14 year old girl. This is the story of Mignon "Mossie" Van Wyk, my older sister. Oh and her best friend Adriaan Prinsloo, who I think she should marry. But that's just me. For some weird reason Mossie falls in love with older guys - enter Leon Rossouw - obviously without a shirt. This is a story about love, naturally, but it's more about being a teenager and how rough life can be. It's a story about monsters and running shoes. About letting go and holding on. About friendship. It's a story about my sister and how she learns to fly.
What we thought:
When a film ends and the credits start rolling you’d expect the names of the cast to be the first thing you see pop up on the screen.
But that’s not the case with Mignon "Mossie" van Wyk. Before the cast, crew and everyone else who worked on the project get credit, the sponsors of the film are thanked. The advertisers are ranked more important than anyone or anything else.
This small detail however perfectly captures what this film is all about – advertising. The last time we saw product placement done this badly was in the local film, Trouvoete, which coincidentally had the same team behind it.
Sponsorship is nothing new in the film industry but by now the subtle art of product placement has been mastered so skilfully that we hardly even notice yet. The blatant naming of brands like we see in Mignon "Mossie" van Wyk is unnecessary and frustrating.
But that is sadly not all that’s wrong with the film. If somehow you managed to see past all the ads and music video cinematography, you are still faced with a cliché riddled script.
Filled with a vast number of trivial facts and useless Google knowledge the script not only disappoints but also feels out of touch with its young, modern target audience.
Director Darrell Roodt, known for his stunning works that include Yesterday and Sarafina, will have to do a lot to prove that he’s still got what it takes.
We’ve recently seen numerous local films shine by offering international quality on the local big screen.
We no longer need to rate local productions on a lower scale or say "it’s not bad for a local film". It’s been proved over and over again that those days are gone.
So going soft on Mignion serves no purpose except for polishing egos.
The only shimmer of light in the film is its young cast that do their best with what they were given. But alas it’s not enough to make this film worth the watch.
