Pine Slopes

Shooting a film with cellphones is obviously going to result in a unique cinematic experience but it is not just the unconventional medium that makes SMS Sugar man novel. Director and writer Aryan Kaganof has produced a film with a visual and ideological character that is not readily associated with South African film-making. It doesn;t deal with any of the clichéd South African themes and it has an extraordinary visual texture that sets just the right level of sombreness required to relay a twisted contemporary fairytale.

Centred on a pimp, Sugar man (Kaganof), and his clique of prostitutes, dubbed “The Sugars” (played by Leigh Graves and Deja Bernhardt) the narrative delves into the underbelly of Joburg, where sex is a precious commodity and violence a form of communication. But it’s not a gritty reality that Kaganof presents; mostly set in luxury hotel rooms and starring a trio of prostitutes who look more like Sandton schoolgirls than skanky Hillbrow hookers, it;s a glamorised rendition of a seedy counter culture. And with Sugarman decked in a retro suit and cruising around the city in a dated Valiant, SMS Sugar man exudes a Quentin Tarantino-esque vibe.

However, as much as the film parades a cool and alluring superficial façade it has substance; it is more like Tarantino-meets-early-David-Lynch. Belying the attractive veneer that the visuals exude beats a dark plot about a maladjusted society searching for fulfillment – and not just the pimps and the prostitutes but the eclectic array of disturbed clients that they service. A consequence of the troubled society in which they inhabit, each client possesses their own peculiar fantasies, for one client this means dressing like woman and then being put to bed like a child. Their desires, however, all seem to be united by a impulse to retrieve or reconnect with something which they have lost. So while this movie features a lot of sex, these sexual acts are a manifestation of some kind of deep-seated psychological longing.

• Complete review on Kagablog