Cape of Good Hope
W: Mark Bamford, Suzanne Kay Bamford; D: Mark Bamford; with Eriq Ebouaney, Nthati Moshesh, David Isaacs, Debbie Brown, and Quanita Adams“Love is what keeps the universe glued together,” says Jean-Claude (Ebouaney). Indeed, love is what keeps this likeable four-character film – based around the daily doings at a pet shelter – together, as well. Aloof Kate (Brown) keeps bachelors at bay while dating a loathsome married man. Her coworker Sharifa (Adams) is trying without success to conceive a child. Meanwhile, Jean-Claude, who works out back with the animals, romances a single mom (Moshesh) from a nearby shantytown. The economic and racial dynamics of modern-day South Africa are complex, but the movie manages to explore them while keeping the airy tone of a good-natured romance. Sometimes the movie seems overlong, with too many characters and too many complications (such as the third-act appearance of a dying father), but writer-director Bamford (with co-scripter and spouse Suzanne Kay Bamford) ties everything up pleasantly by film’s end. The ensemble is nicely balanced, revolving around the notion that kindness toward animals is easier done than kindness to others. (Early on, street urchin Kamo Masilo observes that whites spare more change when he puts a fake bandage on his dog’s leg, rather than his own.) Cape never feels heavy or pedantic in making its point – just a bit shambling.
Saturday, Oct. 16, 7:15pm, and Wednesday, Oct. 20, 7:15pm at the Arbor
This article appears in October 15 • 2004.