‘Five Fingers for Marseilles’ Review
Stars: Zethu Dlomo, Garth Breytenbach, Kenneth Fok, Dean Fourie, Vuyo Dabula, Warren Masemola, Kenneth Nkosi, Brendon Daniels, Jerry Mofokeng, Anthony Oseyemi, Mduduzi Mabaso, Lizwi Vilakazi, Hamilton Dhlamini, Aubrey Poolo | Written by Sean Drummond | Directed by Michael Matthews
A story about five friends who as kids decide that they are charged with the task of saving there home town of Marseilles. As protectors they become known as the Five Fingers. They will stand tall against the police force that has a strangle hold on their town. That is until there fearless and headstrong leader Tau (Vuyo Dabula) realises that catapults, sticks and stones are no use against bullets. During a confrontation Tau takes the life of two officers and feels like the only way to protect his friends is to flee the town he loves.
Cut to 20 years later and life has been a never ending struggle for Tau, after years of freedom fighting and earning the title of The Lion of Marseilles but the battle for freedom in South Africa has been won and It is time for him to return home to some sort of peaceful life. What he couldn’t know is that his sins as a child have changed Marseilles forever. Upon walking into town he finds that not only has the local watering hole turned into a den of scum and villainy but Marseilles has been over run by something far worse than the Police.
The town has also been split in two, Old Town at the top of the hill where the poorest members of the community live and down the hill is where the money is. As he tries to keep a low profile in town he finds that the members of the Five Fingers have all risen to prominent positions as mayor, police chief, and pastor and his best friend passed away sometime ago. Now with Marseilles in the midst of a new threat its not long till the Lion gets pulled back into the fray to save his town, but which of his friends can he call on? Which of them can he trust?
Superb, perfect, absolutely breathtaking, gorgeous, incredible… Just some words to descrive this must-see modern day Western.
So yeah, Five Fingers for Marseilles has knocked me for six. On a budget of $1 million (estimated) Micheal Matthews has absolutely knocked it out of the park with his first big feature. I am sitting here writing this review knowing its going to be full of platitudes but I honestly cant think of a bad thing to say. The cast is wonderful, the ensemble is on point. The cinematography is beautiful, they have taken the already beautiful South African landscape and made it scarily visceral. Sean Drummond’s script is dynamite and has taken a run down genre like Westerns and made it original, exciting and fresh. Then there is the unsung character of most movies: the soundtrack.m This one in particular is stirring and really has you sitting on the edge of your seat till the end credits.
I really don’t want to go into anything else about Five Fingers for Marseilles because I want everyone and anyone seeing this movie. You will not regret it, infact I am tempted to say this could easily be your movie of 2018. Yes, this could be my strongest recommendation of the year… or even to date!
Five Fingers for Marseilles will be available October 23rd on VOD.
