Title: Old Righteous Blues
Year: 2024
Country: South Africa
Language: Afrikaans with English Subtitles
Director: Muneera Sallies
Old Righteous Blues is a wonderful drama about a bitter rivalry in the Cape Malay community that happened some 20 years ago and threatens to affect future generations if not resolved.
Hantjie Jansen, an ambitious young musician hopes to become the major drum leader in the Old Righteous Blues, his town’s Christmas Choir Band which was split when his father chose a different path that caused the band to split. There are other circumstances to what happened, but I will not give away any spoilers.
This battle continued with violence in the streets for over 20 years and the bands competed against one another for the town’s top prize known as the Kerskoor.
The acting and character performances are very strong and totally natural. Each role seems to be individually built with an equal contribution not overshadowing one another but all very vibrant as the drama and tension builds of the two opposing bands and their families who have never disclosed the truth to the younger generation of what happened so many years before.
A thoroughly enjoyable film with music, colorful uniforms, romance and lots of drama.
I read that the film team consulted with many of the old band communities to get a stamp of approval on the authenticity of what the bands were like in the past. I think it was certainly one of the most enjoyable narrative features at this year’s festival
