CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY

 

New 4K Restoration for little seen anti-apartheid film set in South Africa

This 1951 release was directed by Zoltan Korda (The Four Feathers), based upon the novel by Alan Paton and starring Sidney Poitier and Canada Lee, in his last film role while being photographed by Robert Krasker, who shot The Third Man, this is a welcome addition to the StudioCanal library

The film follows the story of a black priest Kumalo portrayed by Lee, who leaves the township he resides over to go to the big city, in this case Johannesburg to search for his estranged son, played by Poitier. Each step on his journey, much like Joseph Cotton's he is blindsided by sudden revelations that leave him shattered, from the discovery that his sister is a prostitute to finding his son has been charged with death for the murder of a prominent white figure in the community.

Meanwhile, back in the village white farmer Jarvis (Charles Carson) who is indifferent to the injustices of apartheid, hears of the murder of his son who was an activist combating the oppression of Black South Africans and so learns more of their struggles and begins to understand.

This is a story adapted from Alan Paton's novel of the same name, and it marks out as a key text in the unification of grief and the admonishment of the apartheid rule, two fathers dealing with the death of their sons and how this could bring peace amidst the turmoil.

Shot on location in South Africa, this is a deeply poignant political drama and it is a marked segway between two different styles of picture. The white farmer scenes are shot like the dressing room dramas that is reminiscent of Ealing Studios perhaps while the location shots of Johannesburg shows a new brevity and bravery in film-making, shooting on location makes the city a character and with illustrious actors such as Lee and Poitier being so prominent shows a production unafraid to comment on racial injustices by putting the oppressed front and centre instead of this becoming a white saviour narrative; unfortunately that would become the norm in Hollywood cinema such as Mississippi Burning or A Time To Kill but British cinema has never been afraid to voice the stories of black characters such as Horace Ove.

Extras on the Blu-Ray and DVD include an interview with Mona Z Smith - biographer of Canada Lee, archive footage of the production, a documentary on cinema under apartheid and interviews with African filmmaker Lionel Ngakane and writer Alan Paton as well as a fascinating 16 page booklet.

CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY is out 9th October on Blu-Ray/DVD from Studiocanal UK

Paul Mendelson Interview

Having had the pleasure of reading The First Rule of Survival, the debut novel by Paul Mendelson before its UK paperback release on Thursday 17th April; I contacted the novelist on twitter @MendelPS and he was happy to answer some questions for me via email.  To Mr. Mendelson I am eternally grateful for his time and to read my review of the novel, please follow the link here.

 

 

 

- What was the gestation of The First Rule of Survival?

From a really early age, I have always written stories - my study's drawers are filled with unpublishable novels - and, about four years ago, I decided to write an adventure story set in Cape Town, in the style of the early James Bond books. I loved doing it and the few friends to whom I showed it were very keen that it should be published. A couple of literary experts said that they liked the writing, but that the story was not quite right for publication, and they persuaded me to write something more serious. 

- Have you always wanted to write a work of fiction?

My writing career started off at the National Theatre when, being in the right place at just the right moment, I was lucky enough to have a one act play produced. "You're Quite Safe With Me" attracted quite a lot of publicity as, at the age of 21, I was the youngest playwright to be performed there. From that, I got a literary agent, and found myself working on scripts for TV series like "The Bill" and "Moon and Son". That kind of writing didn't agree with me, and I moved away from fiction into writing non-fiction on mind-sports such as bridge, poker and casino gaming, as well as a weekly column for the FT and feature articles for magazines and newspapers elsewhere in the world. All this time, short stories, novels and other fiction has been spouting from my pen/keyboard - but just for fun. Now, it seems, the fun is over...

- Born and bred in London, what is the appeal and attraction of South Africa for you?

I was invited to Cape Town just as negotiations for Nelson Mandela's release were coming to fruition. I stayed with a family deeply involved in anti-apartheid politics and spent much time with politicians and campaigners. I fell in love with this large family and the city of Cape Town, which I thought was one of the most interesting and beautiful places on the planet. I have been visiting pretty much every year since. It's my spiritual home now.

- How much research was required into the SAPS and politics of the country?

Without being at all party political, I have always been fascinated by politics and particularly the formation of a new constitution in South Africa. The transformation from the years of hideous oppression to one of the most forward-thinking constitutions in the world was an extraordinary achievement. Several of my friends there had 

friends in the SAPS, so it was wonderful to be able to get opinions from different officers about crime and the institution of the SAPS itself.

- What are your influences? Which thriller/crime writers do you admire?

James Elroy is my ultimate inspiration. His early work is incredibly raw and immersive in the culture of America in the 1950s and 60s, and I marvel at the simplicity of his language and the power of the images he creates. Then, his more recent work incorporates a series of fascinating (if quite repellant and amoral) characters weaved into American history from the time of JFK to more modern times. In this later work, his use of language is amazing - a contemporary form of poetry; the speech rhythms and the breadth of story-telling awe-inspiring.

Other writers who I think are fantastic would include Deon Meyer - in my view South Africa's pre-emininent thriller writer - whose books impress me more than I can say; Michael Connelly's early Bosch novels; Robert Crais' seemingly effortless prose-style and sharp wit, and Mark Billingham's gritty and truly frightening London crime stories.

- How long did it take to write with redraft and edits?

Because I was writing it more for my own pleasure than with an eye on publication, I took my time and the whole novel took perhaps two years to come together. Then, it required substantial cutting as it was way too long, but with excellent editors - Krystyna Green and Martin Fletcher - it wasn't too painful. There were, basically, no re-drafts, just one or two short extra passages recommended to me for clarification. Then, almost a year's wait until publication.

- Vaughan de Vries is a magnetic personality, will we be seeing more of him?

Thank you for saying so. I wanted to try to create a character who, like everybody else, is far from perfect, but with a strong moral compass (whether you agree with his moral code is another matter). In the SAPS now, if you are a senior white police officer, you certainly have to be determined to find your way through the layers of positive discrimination and general life-sapping bureaucracy, to do any work. This is what De Vries strives for.  And, yes. De Vries is back in the sequel which, as I write this, is sitting on my desktop, 98% completed, and hopefully will see the light of day next year.

- You write books on card games also, was it always an intention to write a work of fiction to show another string to your bow. Myself, I have many interests as my blog can show, so find it hard to focus on one specific category. Is that a cause for concern or just another challenge?

Your blog's subject matter is certainly diverse and, these days, it seems rather old-fashioned just to be interested in just one or two things - everything is happening so fast. My brain is split into two defined parts: the creative and the logical/arithmetic.  I have written 12 books on various mind-sports and I still earn my living teaching and writing about bridge and poker, probabilities and strategies for casino gaming and other odds-based activities. I've done this for thirty years and the creative side of my brain is definitely telling me that it is about time the logical side backed off and let the creative side have free rein so, all being well, there will be a little less bridge and poker work, and more fiction writing because, really, this is what I love. I guess like other artists (I use the term generously in my case) you have to suffer for your art and, earning your living doing other things, is what most writers have to do these days.

- What are you working on currently?

Having just finished the sequel to "The First Rule of Survival", I am already at work on ideas for my third book. I have plans for more De Vries mysteries, but also a slightly skewed version of a detective story set in the UK. I can't decide quite with which to move forward yet. I guess it will depend on whether Vaughn de Vries captures the imagination of enough readers to warrant his return. personally, I hope so.

 

www.paulmendelson.co.uk

Follow me on twitter @JamieGarwood

The First Rule of Survival

South Africa in recent times has become a melting pot of crime and misdemeanour due to the high profile murder trial of Oscar Pistorius and the ongoing extradition case of Shrien Dewani, who killed his wife Anni on honeymoon in the country during November 2010.

Using first hand knowledge of the country he visits frequently, journalist Paul Mendelson releases his first novel, The First Rule of Survival.  It tells the story of Vaughan De Vries, a policeman in the a Western Cape who is on the case of three young boys who were abducted and been missing for seven years.  De Vries and his colleagues have all been haunted by the case.  Cleverly, Mendelson employs a dual narrative technique of showing us the cops during the present date and flash backing to the original abductions in 2007 so we see the anguish of investigating a case that may not garner positive results.

Child abductions have featured frequently in literature from Alice Seebald's The Lovely Bones to Dennis Lehane's brilliant Mystic River. Whilst the hysteria of those Bostonian characters are not reached in Mendelson's novel, he nevertheless does have in De Vries that typical male police officer.  A man who is persistent and determined to exorcise the demons of being so wrong years ago, if you saw the film Prisoners, Jake Gyllenhaal's detective Loki you may recall that sort of determination which is familiar in the depiction of De Vries.

After one particular ordeal, a colleague asks De Vries how does he live if you have he ghosts of every victim in your head? His answer encapsulates the character

'Why do you think I get up every morning? I have a bond with every victim I encounter. If I don't know my victim, if I don't understand them as if they were my friend in real life, how can I hope to unravel who killed them and why?

Whilst I may be referring to too many American references in my review, it should be noted that they are instrumental in the finished novel.  Whilst Mendelson does well in establishing the world of Cape Town helped by his first hand knowledge, too often this reader felt he could have been reading any American crime novel due to the dialogue used and the office politics so frequently referred to.  Too infrequently, there is not enough South African dialect or vocabulary used in the dialogue.  The odd 'Ja!' is used for impact but if it were not for the well honed descriptive writing of space and landscape by the author, other readers would be confused as to which country they are in.

However, you do not want to offer too much of a disservice to the book which is quite gripping especially at times such as when De Vries goes underground and finds the body of one of the missing young boys in a freezer but the atmosphere that Mendelson invokes as De Vries wanders around in near darkness is expertly rendered.

While the dialogue does not zip along like a Lee Child novel (a writer who has given his personal validation to the novel), Mendelson should be pleased with the construction and execution of a lead character whom this reader would like to encounter again in future works.

The First Rule of Survival is out on paperback on Thursday 17th April but available on kindle now from amazon.co.uk now

http://www.paulmendelson.co.uk/