Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008)

Very Cool!!!

Good movie but grossly overrated

Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This movie was extremely good . It developed many intertwined complex characters over many years. Early on the use of humour greatly improved the audiences appeal towards the main characters. It also seriously involved the political and social aspects of South Africa at the end of apartheid from diverse perspectives. These aspects were portrayed without placing blame but just told the story as the facts of life and circumstance. Many stereotypes where dismissed when they were used unsuccessfully to gain advantage by attempting to force others to be political correct. I would have rated this movie 9/10 except for the last 20 minutes which was complete garbage. Like any B grade Hollywood movie the last part of the movie was full of impossible shoot-outs and crime does pay themes. This seriously impacted in such a negative way I changed my rating to 6/10. The movie is definitely better seen without watching the last 15 - 20 minutes.

This was an appealing motion picture from South Africa but nothing out of the ordinary.The story line is direct but desiccated.It wastes not time and goes immediately into the tragedy with no stops no loop-holes.It moves at a fast pace with awesome rawness,remarkable action sequences and noticeably catchy dialog.But ,then again this story about South Africa has been told before and the audience has grew tired of this.This meaning a seemingly unchanged usual portrayal of South Africa as a crime infested place.Not meaning that South Africa is not crime infested but the way which filmmakers portray it.'Ralph Zimans' approach to the crime film is regular with nothing fresh. The story of hi-jacking and apartheid has been told in this way so many times before.What the audience wants to see is this story told at a diverse acuity.This film targets a topic which is a pandemic in South Africa but does it in a way that gives the audience a look and feel of having seen this before.If you look closely Jerusalema is chip off 'Hijack Stories' 2006 which starred Rapulana Seiphemo again in the lead role.The character development and acting was stimulating except that the filmmakers did not explore the depth of the characters in such a way that it builds a lasting connection through to the audience.Such as was done in 'Tsotsi' 2006 which is why it won an Academy Award.Jerusalema is highly entertaining but very forgettable immediately afterward watching it.The hype behind the film was thrilling however the characters, the ending and the story itself are all unmemorable.

I really liked this film, found it well acted, scripted and moving. Movie opened my eyes to how potential life in big city slums may be in these areas and really is more than just your typical gangster flick.Lead character Lucky Kunene puts in a top class performance and really earns your belief and is an actor made for these kind of roles.The story is very good and connects the dots on all fronts.Starts out with Lucky Kunene's up bringing in a small village and his journey to JoBurg slums.All people who like action, gangster movies and also movies that can open your eyes about what some living conditions in other countries will enjoy this one!

I saw this in the Pan-African Images Sidebar at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival.It's an interesting mix of local South African dialect and English, with Rapulana Seiphemo extending his lead role from "Tsotsi" which is appropriate, since the story line is derivative of that film. This is about the adult Tsotsi could readily become: an ambitious gangster, a Sowetan Robin Hood whose crimes often mirror what the legal ethic endorses, but for the character Kunene it's more about his community.A couple of historical quotes figure large in this. Although Marx is attributed as the author of the "all property is theft" line in the movie, Marx considered this statement by Proudhon as "self-refuting". But it does seem an apt theme to the story of a culture in flux after its colonial disenfranchisement. Al Capone's "the bigger the crime the bigger the payoff" summarizes the operational ethic quite well.A somewhat raw film (which is why I gave it a 5… I grade "bell-curve") this is still an interesting movie from a developing South African market. See it if you get the chance!