By Kalungi Kabuye
Film: Viva Riva
Stars: Patsha Bay, Manie Malone, Diplome Amekindra
Director: Djo Tunda WaMunga
Genre: Thriller/Drama
Running time: 98 mins.
Rating: R for strong sexuality, graphic nudity, brutal violence, and language
Showing at Cineplex
Two notable things happened at Thursday’s premiere of the Congolese film Viva Riva at Cineplex, Garden City. First, unlike many times before, we first watched the movie, then did the cocktail thing.
It has always been a beef of mine why the cocktail is often held before the movie. What usually happens is that the guests drink down as much beer as they can before the movies starts. Which leads to very loud conversations inside the movie, constant phones going off because the little control guests had has been removed by the drink, and endless movement to the washrooms.
Which means the guests will probably miss half the movie, and forget the other half when the alcohol wears off. Kudos to Cineplex, they got it right this time.
The second notable thing was the actual movie. Surprise, surprise; the movie was a real surprise. We all went in with not much hope about watching a Congolese film made in Congo by a Congolese director doing this for the first time. We expected something Nigeria-like, but boy, weren’t we surprised.
From the opening scene it was clear this was no Nollywood rip-off, the cinematography was very superior, and although the characters at first seemed clown-like, with that typically African tendency to over-act, the film soon settled down to business.
It is set in the Congolese capital Kinshasa, where fuel (petrol) is scarce. Riva (Patsha Bay Mukana) is a young Congolese thug who left the country to try his luck in Angola. His luck turns when he hijacks a truckload of fuel from his Angolan boss and transports it to Kinshasa. There the good life begins.
Riva’s love for money and good time is only matched by his love for women, and when he sees the beautiful Nora (Manie Malone) dancing in a night club he decides he must have her. The fact that she is a girlfriend of a brutal Kinshasa crime boss, Azor (Diplome Amekindra) does not deter him.
So the scene for a gang thriller is set. While Riva pursues Nora, Azor is looking to get her back, and get a share of the fuel. And Riva’s Angolan boss, Cesar (Hoji Fortuna) is looking for him to get his fuel back, and a few bodies along the way will not deter him.
At first Fortuna seems to overdo his bad-guy act, and looks almost clown-like, but slowly he gets to you, and his single-minded, cold-blooded violence becomes real. Malone as the gang moll Nora also does a good job and you will remember her long after the credits have rolled.
The plot is not as straight forward as we expected and it keeps twisting till a fiery end.
Viva Riva is an African movie set in an African city, and that may be the only difference from the numerous gang thrillers that Hollywood churns out. The director, Djo Tunda Wa Munga, has been compared to the American Quentin Tarantino, and there is plenty of blood, gore and sex in the film. In fact there is a window sex scene that many of the guests talked about long after the movie had ended.
The film shows Africa as it mostly is, where quick money is the rage, and how it quickly leads to sex and violence in back streets and whorehouses. Everybody wants a piece, including a lesbian Army Commander and a Priest. Filmed in French and Lingala, there are English sub-titles, which led to several quips about reading a movie instead of watching it.
For a first time director, Djo Munga has done incredibly well, and won several awards for his efforts. Which leads to the question, what’s up with Ugandan film? While we concentrate on Nollywood rip offs, our neighbours to the west are down to some serious film-making. A point to ponder.
