The Gods Must be Crazy (1980): Movies That Can’t Be Made Now

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980): Movies That Can’t Be Made Now

In The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), a mysterious object falls from the sky and destroys the harmony of a hunter/gather band, rhinos put out fires, revolutions are more interested in playing cards, a Land Rover climbs a tree, and women are not judged by their looks but by how much they eat.

I’m thrilled to debut a new segment today titled “Movies That Can’t Be Made Now.” It’s fascinating to explore this category, which includes a variety of films, some with understandable reasons why they wouldn’t be made today. However, the overarching reason seems to be the shift in our ability to find humor in ourselves and others, a palpable change in American culture. The art of self-deprecating humor and the joy of laughing together seem to have taken a backseat recently, reflecting broader shifts in societal attitudes away from humor and sensitivity. Don Rickles, where have you gone?

Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. Today on Classic Movie Review, we are taking on The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980). I absolutely love this movie, and have a story to go with it.

This movie is rated 7.3[1] on iMDB.com and on Rottentomatoes.com, scores 85 percent on the Tomatometer, and an 84 percent audience approval[2]. The great film critic Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars and said, “…it might be easy to make a farce about screwball happenings in the desert, but it’s a lot harder to create a funny interaction between nature and human nature. This movie’s a nice little treasure.”[3] Other critics condemned the movie for not attacking apartheid. I will discuss this more in the conclusion.

Here is my related story. When I was a young anthropology student, one of the members of our society had watched a movie in the mighty metropolis of New Orleans. When the movie eventually came to our small town, she told the society that it had anthropological themes, so we planned to see it as a group.

There was a Coke vending machine in our building. I purchased a bottle of Barqs root beer, which was only available locally then. I wanted to return the bottle to the rack in the building, so I kept the bottle with me for most of the day until I returned to that part of campus.

After seeing the movie, the young woman said it was cool how I carried a bottle all day as a tribute to the movie. Sorry, I was just trying to get our nickel back. This will make more sense after you learn the plot of the film.

Actors – The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)

Today, the actor’s section will be very short. All of the actors are from South Africa and Namibia. One actor became a celebrity after acting in this film, and another appeared in other American films.

Marius Weyers played Andrew Steyn, an excellent but inept elephant researcher who is offish around women at one-point comments – she probably thinks I collect elephant dung and not analyze it. I am unsure if his last name, Steyn, is a play on dung collecting.

Weyers was born in South Africa in 1945. He is best known for this movie but has 95 film and television credits, including Ghandi (1982) and Blood Diamond (2006). He had a successful career in South Africa that included music and theater.

Sandra Prinsloo played the role of Kate Thompson, a big city woman who went to teach school in Botswana for a mental break. Prinsloo was born in South Africa in 1951. She began acting on stage and television in the 1970s. 

Prinsloo has 69 acting credits, mostly confined to South Africa. However, she is probably the best-known actress in her home country.

N!xau played the innocent bushman of the Kalahari, Xi. N!xau was a member of the Kung San hunter-gatherer tribe. The Kung are small, delicate people who were pushed into the desert and survived in a marginal environment that would prove fatal to most unprepared people. Another unique aspect of the s is that their language includes several clicks that are virtually impossible to duplicate.

N!xau was born in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia in 1940. N!xau was cast in this movie; he had never attended school and learned only a few English words during the filming. Following The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), N!xau received international attention. He made several more films about being a hunter/gatherer thrust into the technological world. These films include The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989), Crazy Hong Kong (1993), and The Gods Must Be Crazy in China (1994). He voiced Rafiki in the Swahili version of “The Lion King.” N!xau worked for his community and people until he died at the young age of 62 in 2003.

Ken Gampu played the country’s President. Gampu was born in South Africa in 1936. He started acting on stage and screen in the late 195060s. Gampu’s look helped get him cast as an angry and/or powerful African leader.

In total, Gampu has 80 film and television credits. His best-known films outside of South Africa include The Naked Prey (1965), an excellent film both acted and directed by Cornel Wilde, The Wild Geese (1978), one of my favorite war movies that is anti-war, the awesome Zulu Dawn (1979), King Solomon’s Treasure (1979), The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980), Gampu’s best-known role, The Air Up There (1994), a light comedy with Kevin Bacon, and King Solomon’s Mines (1985).

Gampu also worked extensively for human rights until his death at 68 in 2004. He is beloved in South Africa for both his film and stage work.

Story – The Gods Must be Crazy (1980)

The film begins with beautiful screens of animals in the Kalahari Desert. The voice-over explains that it is one of the harshest environments to live in, as after the annual rains end, water becomes virtually impossible to find. Most animals migrate away. The Kung people, sometimes called the Kung San or Bushmen of the Kalahari, are one of the few populations who live in the grass desert. They are experts at extracting resources from the remaining animals and plants during the dry season.

The movie shows the Kung band living in extended family groups without knowledge of the outside world. Significant contact with the outside world has been made, including major anthropologist studies. In the movie, the Kung believe everything the gods send them is good. They see conning trails of airplanes and think it is the gods being flatulent.

The movie cuts away to a major city in the south, Johannesburg. It makes living in the city seem like a crazy idea, showing living by the clock and working in industry. It hits heavily on overcrowding.

Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo) is a newspaper reporter for a large company. However, she is tired of the grind and being kept down because she is female. Kate finds out that they are desperate for teachers in Botswana and decides to make a change in her life.

One day, while Xi (N!xau) is out walking, the pilot of a small plane throws an empty Coke bottle out the window. It lands near Xi, and he thinks the durable object is a gift from the gods. Xi returned the bottle to the band, and they used it as a tool, a musical instrument, a pattern printer, a grinder, and a crusher.

However, the bottle became an object of contention in the clan as everyone wanted to use it simultaneously. In a struggle, a young woman strikes another in the head with the bottle. When Xi sees the problem, he tries to return the bottle to the gods by throwing it into the air. It falls and his Xi’s daughter on the head.

Xi took the bottle away from the campsite and buried it. The entire clan was sad. At night, a hyena digs up the bottle. A warthog chased the hyena to drop the bottle. A couple of children find the bottle in the morning, and another fight occurs. Xi decides to take the bottle to the end of the earth and throw it away. The elders think it will take up to 40 days to reach the end of the earth. Xi’s family is very sad as he departs in the morning with the bottle.

Two thousand miles to the north, African rebels attack the President of Bornie and his ministers. The men execute a buffoonish attack, very similar to a Keystone Kops. The rebels escape in two jeeps, and the President’s military presue in a Mercedes. Two rebels are killed, and two are captured alive. The rebels only killed three ministers.

The President (Ken Gampu) ordered them to be taken to the helicopter. The military commander orders three armored recon vehicles to follow. The Mercedes runs out of gas. The attackers are members of Sam Boga (Louw Verwey) groups. I thought at the time Boga was a Cuban, but it seems more likely that he is a Dutch descendant Afrikaner.

The four surviving rebels report to Boga’s jungle hideout. He is frustrated working with inept soldiers. He explains that their raid was a failure. Two of the rebels play cards. Using a helicopter trick, one of the rebels reveals the hiding location.

The recon vehicles pass the Mercedes. With a bit of slapstick work, the rebels manage to shoot down the helicopter. The recon vehicles cause the rebels to flee.

Xi continues on his mission to rid his clan of the bottle.

In Botswana, biological researcher Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers) researches elephants by collecting blood and fecal samples. Mpudi (Michael Thys) is a mechanic and research assistant with Steyn. Steyn is asked by the reverend to pick up Kate. Mpudi says the Land Rover has new rings, will be hard to start, and does not have a hand break.

Steyn, driving by in the Land Rover, wakes Xi.

Kate travels from the big city into increasing wilderness. Steyn drives from the wilderness toward increasing civilization. Steyn has a great adventure driving the Land Rover that Mpudi calls the anti-Christ. Kate is left waiting alone in the wilds. By the time Steyn arrives, he is exhausted and covered with mud.

Sam Boga rebels ride into a small village and rob a store of food and gasoline. The recon vehicles arrive shortly after.

Steyn arrives where Kate is waiting but looks like a fool because the jeep has lost its brakes, and he has to keep running back to keep it from going dead. He is terrible around women. Steyn terrorizes Kate as he tries to open and close road gates with the failing Land Rover.

Xi encounters a man who thinks Xi is going to kill him. Xi thinks the man ran because of the bottle.

The Land Rover stalls crossing the river, and Kate is pretty mean. She thinks Steyn is tricking her into staying in the jungle for the night. He manages to dump her in the water. Steyn and Kate separate to dry their clothes. However, a Warthog chases Steyn toward her, and she thinks he is attacking her.

Xi is cooking a short distance away when a rhino comes in and stomps out his cooking fire. The narration says the rhino is the self-appointed fire marshal of the area.

Steyn and Kate are calming down a bit when he sees a rhino charging their fire. Kate thinks she is being attacked again. Steyn puts the rest of the fire out, and Kate thinks it’s a trick. He rebuilds the fire, but the rhino does not come back. Three Africans arrive, and Kate becomes very friendly to Steyn.

Sam Boga and his rebels crash through the border of Botswana. The guard tries to stop the following recon vehicles, but the guard shack is destroyed. Higher headquarters refuse to let the recon vehicles pass.

Steyn hooks the Land Rover winch to a large tree branch so he can pull it out of the river. Kate starts changing clothes and gets caught in a wait-a-bit tree. Briars! Steyn tries to help, but they get tangled up. By the time Kate is out, the Land Rover has pulled itself up into the tree.

Xi sees Kate in her slip and bra. He thinks she is pale, like something from a rotting log, that she is very old from her hair color, that you would have to dig all day to feed her because she is so big, and the skins she wore looked like cobwebs. Xi thinks she may be one of the gods, so he tries to give her the bottle. Steyn is smoking a pipe, and Xi thinks he is a god with fire inside. Again, he tries to give the bottle back.

Mpudi arrives in some kind of motorized cart. Xi thinks he is a god as well. However, he thinks that their language sounds like the chatter of monkeys. Mpudi can’t believe the Ranger Rover is in the tree.

Mpudi speaks Kung and asks what he wants. Mpudi says that they don’t want the bottle. He begins to think they are not gods. Later, Mpudi is towing the Land Rover back when Safari tour guide Jack Hind (Nic de Jager) arrives and tells Kate he is here to rescue her. He describes himself as the great white hunter. Kate is happy to be rid of Steyn. Jack talks about how kind of it was for him to come.

After Kate and Jack are gone, Steyn complains to Mpudi. Kate asks Jack about the rhinos and fires. He basically denies the story. Steyn talks about Kate’s panties, and Mpudi says so that’s how the vehicle got up the tree.

Jack delivers Kate to the village, and they all sing for her. Sam Boga is down to one jeep and eight rebels. The two in the back are still playing cards.

Steyn gets dressed up to go visit Kate. Mpudi tells him he needs to smile and tell her she is pretty. When Steyn asks Mpudi when he became an expert on women, Mpudi says he has seven wives. Steyn asks then why aren’t you at home with them. Mpudi relives; I know how to marry them, but nobody knows how to live with them. A true prophet.

Kate is teaching her class when Steyn noisily arrives and disrupts everything. He practically destroys the classroom as Kate looks on with disgust.

Xi sees a herd of goats and thinks they are animals to be hunted. He shoots one, and the shepherd boy freaks out. Before long, an African constable arrives and tries to arrest Xi. Xi tries to walk away, and the officer shoots Xi in the leg. The bottle is left near the sheep herd.

Later, Mpudi says he has been called to court to translate for Xi. Mpudi has trouble translating the court language into Kung. Mpudi Mpudi says Xi was given the death sentence. It is only 90 days in jail, but for a person who has never seen a wall, Mpudi is sure he will waste away. Mpudi tells about a time in the past when he fled into the Kalahari after hitting a British cop. The Kung took him in, and he lived with them for three years.

Steyn hires Xi as an ecological expert under the convict labor system. They take Xi back to the camp but tell him he has to stay for eleven more weeks.

Jack is trying to date Kate.

Xi tries to explain the evil thing, the Coke bottle, but they can’t understand the problem. Jack shows up and borrows Xi to track a wounded animal. They are surprised by a lion. Xi saves Mpudi after Jack drives away.

Sam Boga and his group arrive at Kate’s school. They kidnap her and all of the children. The Botswanian police are forced to drop their weapons. Sam Bogasaid he would be heading east with his hostages.

Mpudi teaches Xi how to drive the Land Rover. Steyn is pining for Kate, so he takes his team to the backcountry for a game count.

Sam Boga and the hostages begin moving through a large corridor the government has cleared. The two guys are still playing cards.

Jack gets word of the hostages and goes with the police to Steyn’s camp, looking for the researcher. One of the police officers tracks Steyn and company. They determine that Steyn et al. are in Sam Boga’s path, but they must go around the jungle to reach Steyn.

Steyn sets up a telescope and begins counting animals. Xi sees the Army unload supplies for the hostages. Kate tries to protect the kids. The two rebels keep playing cards. Kate says the kids have to eat more often. He sends one of the girls to send a message to the Army to drop food more often.

Xi sees Kate, the hostages, and the rebels moving toward the food. They realize it is Sam Boga. The girl arrives where Steyn and company are set up. Steyn turns into a superman when he realizes Kate is with the hostages. Steyn wants to send Xi down dressed in the girl’s clothing to tranquilize the rebels using a small bow and a needle. The two rebels sneak off to play cards.

Xi makes his way into the group and begins immobilizing the rebels. He calms the children so he can do his work. Xi puts all the rebels to sleep except for the two playing cards. He then gives Kate the note explaining what is happening.

Kate and some of the bigger kids grab the rebel’s weapons but realize two are missing. The group runs for cover, but a shot is fired, alerting the two card players. Kate holds them off with a machine gun.

Steyn and Mpudi head down to help as Xi runs back. Xi goes to get the Land Rover. Steyn knocks a snake out of a tree onto one of the rebels, and they capture him and his weapon. Xi drives the Land Rover in reverse at high speed. Steyn fires into a tree, causing burning sap to fall on the other rebel.

Jack and the police show up. He blows the truck horn and calls for Kate to come out. He takes credit for the release of the hostages. Steyn jumps on the Land Rover, scattering the kids and looking like a fool in front of Kate.

The eleven weeks end, and Xi says goodbye. Steyn pays Xi in paper money. The bushman throws the money because he has no use for it. Steyn is sad, but Mpudi encourages him to talk to Kate. Steyn rehearses a speech as he bumps his head on a lamp.

The talk with Kate starts badly as Steyn stumbles and destroys her table. When Steyn is covered with flour and on the ground, Kate laughs and realizes he is a great guy. Kate kisses Steyn. Mpudi blushes.

Xi retrieves the Coke bottle and continues to the end of the earth. The end of the earth is actually called God’s Window. It is in Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve on the Drakensberg escarpment in South Africa. Xi tosses the bottle away.

As the credits roll, Xi returns to his family, and they are overjoyed by his return.

Thanks and CTA

Conclusion – The Gods Must be Crazy (1980)

Director Jamie Uys said in a 1985 New York Times interview that the film has no message; however, he chose the Coca-Cola bottle to represent “our plastic society.” Ironically, he chose a glass bottle to represent a plastic society.

The film ran for 532 consecutive days in Cupertino, California. It was only pulled because the film reels broke and caught fire. In Brisbane, Australia, the film ran consecutively for 1,467 days. There is a rumor, probably not true, that a man had a heart attack while laughing at the film in the early 1980s

This South African film was released in 1980 as a Botswanan production to avoid anti-apartheid bans. It still faced resistance in England and other countries. The movie was released in the United States in 1984.

Due to strong South African accents, some of the voices, especially Sandra Prinsloo as Kate, had to be dubbed by other actors. Although first billed, Marius Weyers as Steyn was first shown around 27 minutes into the movie. N!xau received less than $2,000 for his role in the film. The film grossed over 200 million dollars, so the director, Jamie Uys, paid N!xau $20,000 and provided him a monthly stipend.

This film used the technique of under-cranking the film, which sped many of the scenes up to great comic effect. For example, this was done when Xi was driving the Land Rover and when he and Mpudi were running from a lion. Although it does not seem anachronistic, this film has a stooge-like slapstick feel.

As for the criticism of not attacking apartheid, I think this movie does by flipping stereotypes. Steyn is a brilliant scientist who turns into a fool whenever a female is around. Xi is perfectly in harmony with his environment but is baffled by the oddity of the quote’s civilization. Of course, the Kung’s lack of outside knowledge is overplayed. By this point in history, many Kung were joining the military to escape the poverty they were forced to live in. Sam Boga leads a group of unqualified rebels. But he is also a Buffon as he tries to force his political agenda on the indigenous people. Jack is the stereotypical great white hunter but eventually loses out to the more honest Steyn. What pulls this all together for me is Mpudi. He is the only character who understands the others and dispenses wisdom like a great philosopher.

Apartheid was a lousy system, as is any system that denies people a meaningful vote. This movie mocked the system by showing people as more similar than many people feel comfortable with.

Finally, the two rebels always playing cards remind me of some guys I served with in the Army. The guys would strike up a game of Spades every time we had five minutes.

World-Famous Short Summary – I don’t want to talk about it – a common refrain in the film.

Beware the moors.

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[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080801/

[2] The Gods Must Be Crazy | Rotten Tomatoes

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_Must_Be_Crazy