Necktie Youth (Sibs Shongwe-La Mer ,2015): South Africa, Netherlands

Reviewed by Phill Hunziker. Viewed at the Chinese Theater, part of the AFI Film Festival 2015.

Have you ever listened to “Super Rich Kids” by Frank Ocean and Earl Sweatshirt? Necktie Youth is essentially that song adapted to the screen. That would have been an awesome film in itself, but the collaborative effort headlined by future auteur Sibs Shongwe-La Mer loads the narrative with hefty questions and ideologies, crystal-clear ambiguity, and a cringe/thrill-inducing style. Its complexities and self-contradictions are profound in their trust in realism and distrust in the ‘truth’. Additionally, there is little sense of hope throughout the film as each character either struggles with the ability to posses hope or clings to a gravely misguided sense of purpose or hope. Each low-note couldn’t be lower while each high note elicits uneasiness. The filmmakers’ have developed a gritty surrealistic style that happens to be extremely socially relevant; much like the polarizing work of Harmony Korine.

The story takes place in Johannesburg, South Africa and follows the lives of privileged teenagers a year after the live-broadcasted suicide (!) of one of their friends sent shockwaves throughout their social community. Dabz (Bonko Cosmo Khoza), who had the strongest relationship with the deceased Emily (Kelly Bates), is drowning himself in secrecy with questions, contemplations, self-justification and drugs. His best friend September (Shongwe-La Mer) is similarly wayward, though his thoughts revolve mostly around his disdain for the world he lives in. Together, they hit the streets looking for something, anything to help them both escape and be enlightened (though they may not admit that). For better or worse, all their city can provide them is similarly lost friends, drugs, sex, and more drugs. They and their fellow new-generation Zulu youth have little in common with their parent’s generation and must figure out life essentially on their own. How, though, can you evolve when all you know is senseless repetition, meaningless banter, and a generally hollow existence?

First time director/screenwriter/actor Sibs Shongwe-La Mer elaborated in the subsequent Q&A on his desire to establish the most heightened sense of realism in this film. He certainly did that, utilizing a mostly first-time cast, long-takes captured by handheld camera, natural lighting, realistic dialogue sequences and a black and white filter that perfectly encapsulates both the inner turmoil of the central characters and the cold reality of the world they live. What elevates the film to an even higher level is the instillation of a sense of surrealism through unconventional editing, a diverse soundtrack and certain scenes in which every detail captured as if in a perfect picture. Those scenes, juxtaposed with the other wayward handheld sequences, blend both realism and surrealism in a way reminiscent of Polish icon Krzysztof Kieslowski. Additionally, the voiceover narration of both Emily and Jabz comes off as both the ramblings of a lost teenage mind (realism) and eloquent poetry that articulates social and psychological frustration and confusion (surrealism).

Both raw and polished by design, Necktie Youth acts as a condemnation of both sides of many important and relevant struggles. The rich are disconnected, resulting in their children to have no real relationship with anything meaningful. The poor, thanks to the unruly and unfair world they live in, may be cynical to the point of no return. The rational man settles while the dreamer crashes and burns. The optimist is a fool while the pessimist is damned. This film is so relevant with its commentary on the current ‘between a rock and a hard place’ state the world is in with most of its problems and discussion of those problems. There’s so much hypocrisy, ignorance, double standards and disinterest in compromise or even rational discussion. Through their incredible assortment of both delicate and harsh techniques, Necktie Youth and its creators have put those issues on the forefront in an over-the-top fashion that yet feels so subtle.