Gat is koning

On October 3, Ster-Kinekor released the good news about what I described in my review as the crassest comedy I’d ever seen:

POENA IS KONING TICKLES SA AUDIENCES’ FUNNY BONE

Laughing all the way to box-office success, Afrikaans teen comedy Poena is Koning, starring Robbie Wessels and directed by Willie Esterhuizen, is shooting the lights out at local cinemas.

Released on 21 September, the film’s weekend attendances increased by 5.7% from opening weekend to its second weekend on circuit. The gross box office earnings per site (screen average) increased by 12% for the same period.

“It’s rare for any film to go up in its second weekend of release and, aside from Tsotsi, unprecedented for a local film. On average, feature films will experience a decrease of between 25% and 40% in attendances from weekend one to weekend two of release,” says Taryn da Canha-Uhlmann, marketing manager for local content at Ster-Kinekor Distribution.

By comparison, the recently released hit teen comedy She’s the Man dropped 5.9% in attendances from its first to second weekend on screen.

Director Willie Esterhuizen added that: “The increase in attendances just proves how much SA audiences are enjoying the film. Only good word of mouth can secure this kind of performance for a feature film once it’s playing in cinemas.”

The film released nationally on digital screens, in both Afrikaans and English sub-titled versions. One of the top performing sites for Poena Is Koning — Ster-Kinekor Kollonade in Pretoria — showed an increase in gross box office of 83% from the first weekend to the next, with attendances going up by a remarkable 92%.

This is indeed remarkable. It’s certainly unusual for something that’s not an art-house release like As It Is in Heaven, the Swedish movie still showing and still topping the charts at Cinema Nouveau nearly six months its first release. We’re not given any actual figures on the Poena triumph, so it’s hard to tell what those percentages actually mean — that 82% increase in box office may be off a rather low base. I await a response from Ster-Kinekor on this.

At any rate, my views on Poena Is Koning, which I nonetheless nominated “Movie of the week (for sheer nerve)”, are obviously not shared by all. Take this letter to me that arrived soon after my review was published:

I find Shaun de Waal’s review of Poena Is Koning in bad taste. When will pretentious South Africa critics come down to earth and become real people?

The producers of this movie are not aiming to be nominated for a Golden Globe award. Neither did they produce a movie for the artificial target market that certain critics believe they belong to. Most normal people (excluding critics) in South Africa today live under conditions of severe stress due to environmental circumstances.

What a refreshing experience it was to watch Poena is Koning today. Most normal people have the need to sometimes move away from reality and sit back and relax — and what better way to relax while watching excellent Afrikaans comedy. Shaun are you living in denial that your Afrikaans background has the best potential for comedy in the world? Relax sir!

I’m afraid the issue of whether I’m in denial about my Afrikaans background will have to await a much, much longer blog, and/or my tell-all autobiography (due out July 2045). Something to do with growing up in South Africa in the 1970s and 1980s, no doubt. More interestingly, for an Afrikaans review of, and some debate around, Poena Is Koning, see this post.

Moreover …
A poster at Nu Metro cinemas for Barry Ronge’s sneak previews is addressed to the “movie afficianado” … Which means they won’t get anyone who’s a spelling aficionado. But then what can one expect from a company that can’t even spell “New”? Thank heavens they didn’t try for the cognoscenti.