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Vrou Soek Boer

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What it's about:


Mareike (Lika Berning) is a city girl and successful in her demanding career, but the same cannot be said for her love life. After a confrontation with her boss, she decides to swop the city for the platteland and a bakery that she inherited from an aunt. But her new life in the small town is more than she expected. Apart from the fact that she must trade her business suits for an apron, things really heat up when she must choose between Mr Handsome and Mr Right.

What we thought:

With the recent influx of romantic Hollywood-type Afrikaans movies on the scene, it’s really hard to get excited for yet another one, especially when all of them have the same theme and are shot somewhere in a small Karoo/platteland town. At least Vrou Soek Boer is not about music or a musician who moves to the Karoo and tries to “find” him or herself again, which seems to be a recurrent them these days. It does however star Bok van Blerk… at least not as himself and he doesn’t sing in the film, so that’s already a bonus. (And I really mean this in a good way.)

Okay, moving on… Lika Berning and Nico Panagio make for quite a cute couple on screen, I mean who doesn’t like ou Nico? But, their portrayals seem a bit forced in this complete Hollywood inspired romantic comedy script. Sometimes they just try too hard, but there are a few moments where they do get it right. So, all is not completely lost.

Lika is charming, funny and hopeless (in the beginning) as city-girl-turned-baker Mareike.  She moves to Wakkerstroom where she inherits her aunt’s bakery which is run by Tannie Bettie, played by Marga van Rooy. Marga is brilliant in that she provides some natural comic relief. She is convinced that Mareike, who is turning 30 soon, needs a man in her life and proceeds to post a dating ad in the local paper on behalf of Mareike.

All the different men who take Mareike out on a date provide lots of comedy and the fact that Neil (Nico Panagio) is her escape route for every date, provides a predictable yet necessary build-up towards the outcome of their relationship.

One thing that is a bit annoying is the choice of music for the film. With not all of the choices being bad, the majority of the film feels like you’re watching Skouspel. And one can’t help but compare it to recently released film Pad Na Jou Hart, which made excellent choices as far as music goes. Pad Na Jou Hart also feels more authentic, delivers beautiful cinematography and isn’t predictable. Vrou Soek Boer unfortunately does not tick all these boxes.

So if you’re into Lianie May, love triangles and predictable endings, then this feel-good film is for you.

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