Film Critic: Stephen ‘Spling’ Aspeling
Katinka Heyns, the acclaimed director behind South African classics like Paljas and Fiela se Kind, makes a much-anticipated return with Die Wonderwerker. It’s been more than a decade since her last film, making this biographical mystery drama a significant event. The film is based on a chapter from the life of Eugene Marais, the famous Afrikaner lawyer, poet, and naturalist.
Marais’s work may not have been extensive, but his poems and nature studies are still revered. Die Wonderwerker focuses on a turning point in his life when, afflicted with malaria, he’s taken in by a struggling farm family. The film immerses itself in the following months as Marais explores the natural surroundings and becomes a relational catalyst for his adopted family.
Dawid Minnaar stars as Eugene Marais, delivering a charming and pivotal performance that’s been compared to David Strathairn’s. He is supported by South African acting heavyweights Elize Cawood and Marius Weyers. Cawood gives an effortless performance as the embittered Maria van Rooyen, while Weyers is her counterbalance, delivering a clenched, jealous, and enraged Gys van Rooyen. The ensemble is further strengthened by Anneke Weideman, who brings innocence and exuberance to the doting character of Jane Brayshaw, and Kaz McFadden, who adds a solid performance as Adriaan van Rooyen, a young man blinded by selfish obsession.
Die Wonderwerker is a character-driven drama, with Marais acting as a “spanner in the works,” playing off each character. He is a mysterious stranger who seems to hold the answers to everyone’s problems—except his own. He functions as a catalyst, pushing the family to a point of revelation while trying to manage his own drug-fueled disappointments.
Heyns creates a pastoral drama that feels like a blend of a Brontë adaptation and a classic Western. The dusty, beautiful mountain ranges and rocky landscapes, complete with horse-driven carts and shotguns, echo the Western genre. At the same time, the central character of Jane Brayshaw, the intersecting desires, and the sense of doomed romance feel right at home in a Bronte or Jane Austen film.
The film serves as both a portrait of Eugene Marais and a landscape of rural South African life at the time. Heyns beautifully unpacks these elements with a fascinating story and intriguing characters. The cinematography is stunning, turning every frame into a work of art. Nature’s beauty is juxtaposed with the alienating nature of humanity, as Marais speaks of termites functioning as one against the backdrop of a family doing the opposite.
This is a slow-grinding vintage drama that allows the audience to invest in the leads. The cast chemistry is strong as tensions mount, transforming what starts as a sluggish drama into an ever-tightening spring. Chris Barnard’s script masterfully unfurls the characters, whose love-hate relationship with Marais threatens to implode their rural lives. Marais is far from perfect, but he becomes something of a savior to these flawed individuals. You’re left to wonder if Heyns is subtly comparing Marais’s studies of baboons to his time living with these deeply flawed humans.
Die Wonderwerker is an Afrikaans classic – a poetic, layered drama that deserves repeat viewings. The performances are strong, the direction is inspired, and the story offers a fascinating study of human nature in some of its ugliest and most beautiful forms. The film is firmly rooted in Afrikaner culture, and while the use of subtitles makes it a niche production, it offers a rich, rewarding, and immersive experience for those who connect with it.
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