Publications
Partners
Five Fingers for Marseilles galloped into the number 10 spot on the local box-office – quite a feat for a local film, but a lot less than this innovative flick deserves.
The Western style local action film banked R500 000 this last weekend in ticket sales and as a result will open in an additional four cinemas countrywide – at Festival Mall in Pretoria, Sandton City in Johannesburg, Vaal Mall in Vanderbijlpark and Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein.
It was the number one film at Rosebank Nouveau.
As is often the case, first weekend success (or failure) determines the fate of a film, particularly local films, whose makers often lament the lack of support given by distributors.
Happily, having eeked on to the top 10 this week, the film will get more time on the circuit – so more of a chance for everyone to go and see it.
Black Panther, which purred up to R98 million this weekend, has shown that when the marketing and the message is right – people go to the cinema.
Hopefully a local film like Five Fingers can bank that moviegoer goodwill over the next few weeks.
Indigenous Films says the film has outperformed past South African favourites in the action/crime/drama genres, with a showing that was 28% stronger than iNumber Number (2013), 31% stronger than Jerusalema (2008) and 34% higher than Noem My Skollie (2016) and 40% higher than Hard to Get (2014) on its opening weekend.
Don’t go and see Five Fingers for Marseilles because it is local – go because it is so good.
It takes the Western movie making conventions and turns them on their head to tell the story of a gang of youngsters in the impoverished town of Railway, up the hill from the wealthy town of Marseilles, protecting their land and rights from incomers.
