Vancouver Foreign Film Society
Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight
Movie Title: Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight
Year: 2024
Country: South Africa, Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia)
Language: In English and Shona with English Subtitles
Director: Embeth Davidtz
Writers: Embeth Davidtz and Alexandra Fuller
Awards: 1 win & 3 nominations
I was still in South Africa in 1965 during the white minority government’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 that led to a lengthy conflict known as the Rhodesian Bush War. Despite international sanctions, and continuous diplomatic negotiations, the struggle took almost 10 years before the Rhodesian Government was forced to accept independence from Great Britain in 1980. I remember those 10 years and the impending thought that living in South Africa may not be ideal, nor safe, before my wife, and I decided to emigrate to Canada. We arrived in January 1975.
The film based on Alexandra Fuller’s novel by the same name was released in 2001. The film co-authored by Fuller is so authentic, adding a visual dimension to her bestseller achievement. Alexander Fuller was born in England in 1969 and moved with her family to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). She also lived in Malawi and Zambia for a time after. She received a B.A. in English Literature from Acadia University, Nova Scotia. She subsequently returned to Wyoming with her American born husband Charlie Ross. They divorced in 2012
The film directed by actress Embeth Davidtz in her debut directional role, is a powerful drama, with outstanding performances by the main actors. It centers around the Fuller’s 8-year-old daughter Bobo (Lexi Venter) and her thoughts and impressions, her mother Nicola (Ember Davidtz), her nanny Sarah (Zikhona Bali), who is like her surrogate mother and best friend, her sister Van (Anina Reed) and her father Tim (Rob van Vuuren), and Jacob the gardener (Shilubana N Fumani)
Lexi Venter’s extraordinary performance garnered the young star an award as “2025 Winner New Voices/New Visions Special Jury Mention” The story is told through her eyes as a rambunctious child free to roam, who is living in Zimbabwe during this dark period and interprets what she sees in her surroundings, her mother’s fears and drunken periods, as a result of losing her2 young children, her African nanny who tells her about the coming back from the dead and other superstitions. She smokes, rides a motorized bike unafraid of her rural surroundings, and plays with the African children of the other workers on the farm innocently directing them from what she has learnt. Always seeking more knowledge of whether she is also an African, or a racist fighting terrorists, wondering what the truth is, although her mother tells her it is more complicated than that. She has a wonderful open relationship with her dad Tim who is often away for long periods as a soldier fighting in the war.
It is her “coming of age story” scripted and written by Ember and Alexandra, a wonderful combination to keep it true to the book.! The film creates an unmatched visual experience for an audience with its gorgeous cinematography, its dynamic screenplay, enhanced music, and outstanding performances by well-known actors including 3 from South Africa.