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SUURLEMOEN! Directed by Vikus Strijdom, with Tiaan Kelderman, Ben Pienaar, Aimee Ritchie, Pearl Monama, Chris Chameleon and Anna Davel.
REVIEW: STEYN DU TOIT
WHEN life hands you lemons, make a lemonade-themed movie about a likeable bunch of high school misfits starting an Afrikaans rock band together.
Add to that an epic Battle of the Bands-type competition, a romantic triangle, blogging and skateboarding, and you’ll end up with a tall glass of unadulterated cinematic fun.
Based on Jaco Jacobs’s popular 2007 teen novel of the same name – which sold more than 60 000 copies and is part of the school curriculum – Suurlemoen! is the second feature directed by Vickus Strijdom ( Zama Zama).
Filmed at the Helpmekaar College in Johannesburg, it kicks off with all guns blazing. Impressive slow-motion shots of skateboarders doing flips, digital animation on par with current design trends and Jack Parow blasting through the cinema; this movie knows who its target audience is.
At the centre of all the action is 16-year-old Tiaan (Tiaan Kelderman), a handsome adrenalin junkie whose mom (Anna Davel) is a nurse and whose dad passed away a year ago. One day his best friend, Zane (Ben Pienaar), pulls a prank by putting lipstick on a bust of Mozart – whom he describes as “a drab little music guy who had a lifelong wish to be a little more flamboyant” – displayed in the school’s music room. Caught red-handed by Mr Marx (Chris Chameleon), they are given the punishment of having to wash the first team’s rugby uniforms – a disastrous exercise ending with the boys owing the school R30 000.
Noticing their potential as musicians, Mr Marx throws them a lifeline by suggesting they enter the Rumour Rock Competition. They take him up on the offer because, apart from the potential prize money, everyone knows being in a band leads to “respect, a record deal and girls”. Following a fun, dynamic scene involving Tiaan (lead guitar) and Zane (bass) accompanying potential bandmates on Johannes Kerkorrel’s Energie, they finally settle on their candidates. Stepping up to the mic is Liezl (a bubbly Aimee Ritchie), a classmate Zane has had his eye on for a while, and behind drums is Bongi (Pearl Monama), a plain-spoken and sassy ball of vivacity.
From here on Suurlemoen!(the band’s name) amps up the volume even louder. Having renovated an old storage room, the foursome start playing together, conceive a bunch of songs titled around the theme of lemons, and even manage to get their first single played on the school radio. Zane’s feelings grow stronger for Liezl, while she bats her eyelashes harder at Tiaan, who fears requiting her feelings because this would hurt Zane. It’s a situation that will inevitably threaten to derail their friendship and put the future of the band in jeopardy.
Thankfully steering clear of cynically infecting the teenage minds of its target audience, the movie’s bumps are slight and before you know it everything is sunny and happy again.
Kelderman, who had to learn to play the guitar and skateboard in preparation for the film, makes for a convincing protagonist and I can easily see him as a regular leading man in coming years. His character is soft-spoken, mature and relatable. There’s also genuine on-screen chemistry between him and Ritchie. Pienaar as Zane does a great job too, especially during his character’s moodier moments, as does Monama as Bongi, a character tasked with trying to keep the group together during difficult times.
An aspect of the plot that had me scratching my head, however, was that, after everyone had kissed and made up, Liezl does not rejoin the band.
It would have made for a better ending had she – after being serenaded by Tiaan during Suurlemoen!’s opening number at the Rumour Rock competition – jumped on to stage to join them again. More so if they had also performed the song that the film had spent the past 80 minutes building up as their ticket to glory.
During the following scenes Liezl, an otherwise talented and ambitious character throughout the film, also appears to be only too happy to be reduced to being a groupie and girlfriend of the band leader. What’s up with that?
Those familiar with band movies such as School of Rock, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey and This is Spinal Tap will find lots to enjoy in Suurlemoen!
While storyline-wise it doesn’t stray too far from the formula, it adds relevance and value through the incorporation of its exciting cast/catchy songs with references to the South African rock scene of the 1980s – including Koos Kombuis, The Voëlvry Movement and Bernoldus Niemand. Having Chameleon’s delightfully drab character reveal that he was formerly in a rock band did not go unnoticed either, although I think the meta joke would have been funnier if that band’s name actually turned out to be Boo!
Full of school uniforms, secret romantic Post-it notes, teenage optimism and loud riffs; biting into Suurlemoen! will leave you with anything but a sour taste.