The Storekeeper (1998)

Too much about the plot just didn't add up, the writing was bad, some of the scenes were cringey and awkward,

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Strange that when I saw this I did not really think about the gun control message. What I did see this film as was the simple story of one man doing what he can to live. It seems that he lives something of a lonely life and the viewer is meant to sympathize with him a great deal. Stylistically, an interesting film. Almost minimalist in a way, because of the lack of dialogue. I thought that this style was a little forced in one or two places, but otherwise it worked very well. I like the fact that whatever language you may speak you can watch the film the same way. And another thing: the scene in which the gun goes off reminded me a lot of the "baptism" scene in the Godfather. Both have a ceremony going on in a church, with music, contrasted with cutaways to violence happening elsewhere. Strange coincidence(?)...

This is one of the funniest film school shorts I have ever seen in my life and I jest not. The level of pretentiounsness mixed with uber p.c. god-knows-what, the misdirected "anti-violence" message is just so completely out of left field that you cannot help but laugh. How those 4 year olds could have pried open the metal bars that a 20 year old criminal needed a whole toolbox to do is apparently not part of the issue. I also like the "arms contractor", a Dutchman natch but certainly a metaphor for (white) South African mercenaries along with his servile sellout native sidekick.Please, don't let the audience think for a second that the main character may have indeed been protecting his life and property which was being burgled every night. A plea for gun control? Or a clever way to be clever and get your career rolling? You be the judge.SA has the highest crime and murder rate in the world. Can't we all get along? Har har har

Gavin Hood's THE STOREKEEPER is a mini-masterpiece of filmmaking, a film short with no dialogue, yet with very moving characters, whose facial expressions and body language make the short work. A storekeeper in South Africa goes to extreme lengths to keep from being repeatedly burglarized. We know exactly what'll happen as the story progresses, yet we're powerless to stop it.

The Storekeeper is a highly underrated short from South Africa that I was lucky enough to catch at the NZ film festival this year. Superbly and simply directed without dialogue, it is a powerful and intense anti-violence statement and a minor masterpiece. Catch it if you can.