South African cinema - White Wedding (2010)

A few nights ago I had the opportunity to watch a South African romantic comedy, White Wedding, written and directed by Jann Turner. The film revolves around a South African man (Kenneth Nkosi) who has to travel from Johannesburg to Cape Town to meet his wife before they get married. Essentially, it's a variation of The Hangover, except the humor can sometimes be a little unrelatable.

This was the first South African film I had actually seen, so I wasn't sure what to expect cinematic-wise and dialogue-wise in relation to Hollywood. In my opinion, the cinematography was beautiful, but mainly because of the scenery of various fields, hills, roads, and the coast.

One thing I found interesting and unique to this film was the interwoven language used in the dialogue. It would literally jump from Zulu to Xhosa to English at various points, but it never took me out of the film itself.

But, what the film lacked in exposition, it made up in it's portrayal of a country still distraught with racial differences. The film isn't exactly meant to be eye-catchingly beautiful, although it isn't basic by any means. It was more focused on the racial struggles that black South Africans still face in a country once divided due to apartheid.