Das Fenster zum Tod

In this Afrikaans Rear Window Randall comes home in a wheelchair. His girl gives him binoculars so he can occupy himself while he's alone all day, cause she works. He spies on his neighbors and grumbles and tries to brew up a plan to get the loan shark off his back that he owes a ton of money to. One day he sees a murder, right across from his apartment. This flick is wonderfully paced and it has great suspense brewing all through our hero's bad ideas. I especially like the relationship between him and his lady-love. She loves him and has his back but he really has to grow up.

Nommer 37 is a good South African thriller and a strong film from the Cape Flats with nail biting anxiety and suspense. A man caught in debt, drug and gangster related crime falls deeper into trouble when a constraining injury results in him relying on the care of his girlfriend. The film shows relevant issues that people from the Cape Flats must deal with daily as well as a tumultuous love story on the Flats.

The film has great acting from the two leads, played by Irshaad Ally and Monique Rockman. The performance from the whole cast also gives a strong picture of life on the Cape Flats. For Afrikaans viewers the dialogue is something special as the specific Cape dialect is used very well and effectively throughout the film. The directing was done well and was some of the better and original work from the last decade in South Africa, especially in the Afrikaans film genre.

This film does contain story elements which was clearly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock's film Rear Window (1954). The fifties Hitchcock film is however probably only known by a few South Africans which would make this film for most viewers a new and refreshing story with strong South African characterization.

Recommend this film to every South African who wants to see a good thriller from their own country and to any person who wants a better understanding of the stresses that people who live in the Cape Flats endure.

The movie is nothing to rave about. But, it has a good plot and acting is pretty okay as well. Worth investing your time if you are after a decent thriller.

The true tragedy that makes this film so powerful comes from the unfortunate truth that humans are inherently "greedy little piggies". Director/Writer Nosipho Dumisa powerfully embodies this flaw in each of her characters, and makes it highly individualized through a screenplay that relies more on character development than gore. The conflict of every role is crafted by powerful performances, particularly Monique Rockman, who plays her role of the abused girlfriend as seemingly regretful more than she is spiteful. Every instance of tension is capped-off by an unwarranted act of violence that draws sympathy from audiences. Dumisa makes it impossible to ignore the unfortunate circumstances that protagonists and antagonists alike are thrown into, which had such a strong impact that I found myself questioning my own morality as I exited the theater.

Foreign films don't get enough credit. The direction of this South African movie was incredible. Directors, often struggle with capturing these sensitive topics, but I thought the combination of emotional acting and intense storyline allowed these issues to be illustrated in a way they deserved. The film, which follows a paraplegic man who attempts to use criminal means to make his way out of poverty, gets progressively more thrilling as it goes along. I was on the edge of my seat by the end of the movie! A must see for anyone who loves suspense.