Five Fingers for Marseilles

How far would you go to protect your land? In Five Fingers of Marseilles, a group of friends, called the five fingers, make a childhood pact to protect their land from any threat, even themselves. The “Lion” of the group, Tau, makes a chilling mistake that leads him to vanish for 20 years. He becomes a ruthless outlaw, played by Vuyo Dabula, who gives a memorable performance as Tau who becomes an anti-hero to his town when he returns to discover it being threatened by the dangerous Ghost Sepoko and his followers. This story of injustice and betrayal is set in the frontier of South Africa, being mostly in the native language of the area. The native tongue that director Michael Matthews decided to have as the movie’s language makes this movie memorable, being a wonderfuly unique experience. The cinematography gives South Africa justice, featuring crisp wide angled shots of the landscape behind Marseilles. The movie’s blend of Spagetti Western and Modern tragedy makes this film a most impressive example of African cinema. Being a revolutionary Western that features a mostly black cast, I will be looking for more work by Michael Matthews and the outstanding Vuyo Dabula.

The cast of this movie does a great job in bringing these characters to life. Vuyo Dabula plays Tau who is known by his group as the lion. After killing two men as a young boy trying to save a friend, he becomes exiled from his community. However, he wanders his way back into town many years later as the town, lead by an old friend now mayor, Bognani (Kenneth Nkosi), is suffering and is threatened to be taken over by the ghost man and being burned to the ground. Throughout the film you see the multi-layered facets to the actors as the story unfolds and they make it so easy to follow along the complex story line. I would recommend this film to those looking for great actors and action packed drama.

Having to watch his back against bullets, knives, and corrupt police officers, freedom fighter Tau (Vuyo Dabula) returns to his South African home after almost two decades away to find his world turned upside down in Five Fingers for Marseilles. Trying to uncover the mystery of his childhood friend’s death, Tau discovers that sometimes the only person you can trust is yourself. Michael Matthews effortlessly combines beautiful South African landscapes with an exciting Western storyline that had me hooked from the opening scene. Between intense fight scenes, dramatic plot twists, and a town fighting for freedom, I had a hard time picking a favorite part. This movie is perfect for an action-packed movie night!

Five Fingers for Marseilles was one of the most visually satisfying films to watch. Cinematographer Shaun Lee captures the South African landscapes so well, utilizing wide shots of the blue skies and tall plains to have them seemingly go on forever. This movie presents clear indications of a Western inspiration, but serves as an original and interesting addition to the genre allowing for it to easily go beyond the limits of South African borders. Even considering the possible language barrier for those who aren’t fluent in Southern Sotho or Xhosa, I fully appreciated and gained more out of the experience of the film seeing it in it’s full authenticity and truthfully was not bothered or overwhelmed by the subtitles.

Directed by Michael Matthews, Five Fingers of Marseilles is a story of growth and returning to ones origins. Following the character of Tau, The Lion of Marseilles, played by Vuyo Dabula, we see his story as he leaves behind the life he knew as a child and then returning to it as a changed and hardened man. The town that he once knew and those friends he left behind to face the world without him all changed now. This new age western is a master piece of cinematography capturing a deep and meaningful story along with the breathtaking views of South Africa. I found the story to be expertly written and wrapped up succinctly and beautifully.