Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 30, 2010

Screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, Ralph Ziman's "Jerusalema" a.k.a "Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Anchor Bay-UK. The supplemental features on the disc include deleted scenes; audio commentary with director Ralph Ziman, actor Jafta Mamabolo, and composer Alan Ari Lazar; and the film's original theatrical trailer. In English and Afrikaans, with imposed English subtitles for the Afrikaans dialog. Region-B "locked".

The Dreamers

The name of the man who narrates Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema is Lucky Kunene (Jafta Mamabolo/Rapulana Seiphemo, Tsotsi) and he insists that what we see in the film is the new South Africa. If true, this isn’t good news, because apparently the South African authorities have literally given up on a very large part of Johannesburg where thousands of people live.

Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema begins with the end - we see Lucky being arrested by a SWAT team and taken away from a building located somewhere in Hillbrow, the poorest and most dangerous area of Johannesburg. He is seriously wounded but willing to talk. His story, Lucky tells us, is very similar to that of many other young South African men. If true, this isn’t good news either.

After the abolition of Apartheid, we see Lucky trying to enroll in a local university and get a degree. He is quickly accepted but denied a scholarship - which means that his application is actually rejected because he does not have money to pay for his tuition and fees. Shortly after, he meets Nazareth (Jeffrey Sekele), an ambitious gangster trained in the former U.S.S.R, who offers him a job. Lucky begins stealing cars for Nazareth and quickly forgets about the university.

Fastforward. We see Lucky in charge of the "Hillbrow People’s Housing Trust" - a union of sorts that vows to confront the greedy landlords in Hillbrow, and clean up the area from pushers, drug addicts, pimps, and prostitutes. The trick is this - for all of the above to happen, the tenants must start paying their rents to Lucky and his men. Many people join the union and in a couple of months Lucky becomes the king of Hillbrow.

Lucky also falls in love with a beautiful white woman (Shelley Meskin). The two move in a large house somewhere in a wealthy area of Johannesburg - and immediately upset a few of Lucky’s men. Eventually, a Nigerian drug lord confronts Lucky, the police go after him, and his empire collapses.

I have some mixed feelings about Ralph Ziman’s Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema. The film pulls hard in two completely different directions and delivers messages that openly contradict each other. On one hand, there is the supposedly reformed gangster Lucky, who explains why for many young South African men crime is the only way of life - in post-Apartheid South Africa there are opportunities only for those who are wealthy or part of the new system, and the new system is very much like the one Lucky's generation replaced.

On the other hand, Lucky’s constant preaching about the benefits of stealing from those who have nothing and those who have everything is, to say the least, suspicious. And the worshipping of Michael Mann’s Heat - not only there is footage from Heat in Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema, but there is actually a robbery that is an exact replica of the one seen early in Mann’s film – is absolutely hilarious; though, to be honest, in the audio commentary found on this Blu-ray disc director Ziman and Mamabolo mention that Heat really did inspire a number of serious robberies in South Africa.

With other words, the problem with Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema is that it condemns and glorifies crime at the same time. Obviously, the various looks the film offers from the extremely dangerous Hillbrow are invaluable but also misused, because the material director Ziman had in his hands truly is quite unique.

Note: In 2008, Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival. The film was also screened at the Durban International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Feature and Best Actor Award (Rapulana Seiphemo).

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Ralph Ziman's Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Anchor Bay-UK.

This is a good high-definition transfer. Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema has an intended rough look, which for the most part has been retained. During the daylight scenes detail is very good and clarity pleasing. During selected scenes, natural light is effectively used to give the film a gritty look - contrast levels are manipulated and grain enhanced. The color-scheme is also unique; there are a variety of different yellows, blues, greens, browns, grays, and blacks. The sunsets and Johannesburg's skyline look absolutely beautiful. This being said, I noticed random trances of mild-edge enhancement. Macroblocking, however, is not an issue of concern. There are no serious compression artifacts either. Additionally, there are no serious stability issues. Lastly, I did not see any annoying large cuts, damage marks, debris, or stains to report in this review. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0 (with large portions of Afrikaans). For the record, Anchor Bay-UK have provided imposed English subtitles for the Afrikaans dialog but not the English dialog. The English subtitles appear inside the image frame.

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track is strong. The bass is potent, the rear channels not overly active but effective, and the high-frequencies not overdone. There is a good range of dynamics, and a few of the shootouts are indeed rather impressive. The dialog is crisp, clean, and stable. However, I must admit that a couple of times I had difficulty understanding what was being said because the accents are quite thick (which is why Anchor Bay-UK should have provided English subtitles for the English dialog as well). For the record, I did not detect any pops, cracks, hissings, or audio dropouts to report in this review.

Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - director Ralph Ziman, actor Jafta Mamabolo, and composer Alan Ari Lazar discuss the production history of Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema, the technical difficulties that had to be overcome while shooting in Hillbrow, the main characters, the message of the film, etc.

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

• Deleted Scenes - a gallery of deleted and extended scenes. In English and Afrikaans, with imposed English subtitles for the Afrikaans dialog. (11 min, PAL).
  
  

  Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 
  

  

  South Africa has been producing some very strong films in recent years. Unfortunately, practically none of them have appeared in North America. Thankfully, Oliver Schmitz's Life, Above All, a big hit at this year's Cannes Film Festival, has been acquired by Sony Pictures, so a Blu-ray release is at least theoretically possible. While we are waiting for it, I decided to pick up Ralph Ziman's Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema, a somewhat controversial film, which offers a look at a part of Johannesburg the local authorities have apparently abandoned. I have mixed feelings about the film's message, but the visuals are indeed fascinating. RECOMMENDED.