SXSW Review: Viva Riva!
A few facts about the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which you may have known as Zaire: It is the third largest country in Africa and the 12th largest in the world, and the 18th most populous. The citizens are some of the poorest in the world, but the country has untapped natural resources estimated at $24 trillion, making it the richest country in the world. It has been for the last 40 years one of the most corrupt, violent, and lawless places on the planet.
Djo Tunda Wa Munga (pronounced "Joe" for short) has written, produced, and directed the first movie ever to come out of the Congo, a country which until now has had no film industry. Viva Riva! is a gorgeously gritty, sexy adventure that, if it were a book, you couldn't put down. An unintentional blaxploitation piece, the core is a plot you might see in a Tarantino film or something like Snatch, but with all the dials turned up to 11. The depth of violence here isn't an attempt to pander to adolescent bloodlust, but rather an expression of the severe circumstances in which people have had to live in that country.
The title character, known only as Riva, is a representation of the spirit of the Congolese people, who have been forced to slave under a repressive leader and who yearn for freedom from that yoke. In the midst of a gas shortage, Riva steals a truckload of fuel in Angola and hides it away in his hometown Kinshasa, where with a friend, he will sell it for enormous profit as the shortage worsens. Pursued by a merciless Angolan crime lord (for whom Riva collected the very gas he stole), Riva sets about enjoying all the partying, booze, and women he can find.
While Riva spends time courting and getting into trouble with the exotic girlfriend of the local crime boss, the Angolans spend their time tracking him down, dragging along their bloodhound, the commander of the local military base who cooperates only because they hold her sister in captivity. Interesting characters are introduced in each story arc and brought together as the Angolans eventually catch up to Riva.
Riva is best described as an analogue to Brer Rabbit or Neil Gaiman's Anansi, full of life, concerned only with his own pleasure, mischevious, confident, and eternally lucky. He is in every way a fascinating and engaging character, and Viva Riva! is among the best films I have ever seen. I was ready to start a one-man campaign for Drafthouse Films to buy this and make it their next release, but happily, Viva Riva! has already been bought for U.S. distribution by Music Box Films with a planned release date of June 10.
Viva Riva! screens again at SXSW on Monday 3/14 at 4 pm at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, and Saturday 3/19 at 11:30 am also at Lamar. Read my interview with Djo Tunda Wa Munga to find out more about the film.
films from DRC
I'm interested in your review, fascinated by the film, and definitely going to try to get a ticket for the Saturday showing. I'm an American who was born and grew up in Congo, also worked there as an adult.
But this is not the first movie ever to come out of the Congo. There's "La vie est belle", a wonderful movie in French about a young man who hitches a ride from the rural area into Kinshasa to try to make his fortune. He starts out as a servant to a rich Congolese couple. Long story, with love intrigues and witchcraft and music, but in the end the main character ends up making it as a musician. The main character is played by Papa Wemba, a famous Congolese musician, and another famous Congolese musician (Franco) has a cameo in the film.
"La vie est belle" [life is wonderful] was made in the 1980's, with the help of the French Cultural Center in Kinshasa.
You're both right
It wasn't the first, but the last Congolese film to make it outside the country was "la vie est belle", which was made in the 80's. There is a film industry their, but it is extremely insular, in that the language spoken is one of the native languages, lingala (which is what is spoken in Viva Riva), but the production value is of a lower quality, which Viva Riva definitely surpasses.
Thanks Ruthy
That's good to know. I understood from the Q&A that it was the first. Perhaps it's the first since Mobutu? IMDB says the "La vie est belle" you're referring to (there are three) was made in 1987 in Belgium, France, and Zaire. Regardless, Djo Munga mentioned during the Q&A how incredibly difficult it was to make the movie, since there is no film industry in the country. Locals work cheap, but for skilled crew, you must bring them from outside. It's a great film, and I hope you enjoy it!