Alchemy AW21 is the latest offering from award winning designer Thebe Magugu. “Alchemy AW 21 is an exploration of the changing faces of African Spirituality and how people- especially young people- are becoming about their experiences and journey into the world.” This short film dropped earlier on this week (2 March) and after watching and posting about it on that other app, my editor finally gave me the courage to write about it.
Disclaimer: My editor gave me the go ahead to write is’Twitter mixed in with normal English. She said “A balance of the two would bang”, so I am running with that…
Am I the only one who randomly reads comments on YouTube while watching something?
While watching the short film, I came across a very interesting take on the films possible reference. This persons comment had subtly mentioned how, they loved the SABC Encor inspired reference.
It’s also the nostalgic reference for me. It felt like I was watching an episode of a TV series from back in the late 90’s. The aesthetics of the film really screamed SABC Encor and I love it. Thebe Magugu recently shared a post where he mentioned a number of the references they used for the film. “The film cites 70’s Japanese pink films, Toshiya Fujita’s Snowblood, Once Upon A Time in the West by Serigo Leone, the work of Kenneth Anger and the attitude of Nollywood films.
Now, we can’t talk about the film’s reference without also appreciating a few things that stood out for me. The use of vernacular language from start to finish really set the tone. It made watching the film feel like all those random days when, one would come across an episode of Ubambo Lwami or Lesilo.
Another amazing element that definitely needs to be celebrated is how they portrayed the characters. Jade Fox, Lady Whirlwind, Big Boss, Mouse and all the other phenomenal supporting characters were badass. “I want female characters to have their own agency and can be hero’s or anti-hero’s without having to conform to the cinematic of women having to go experience major trauma to be allowed to be the same level of ‘badass’ as their male character counter parts.” Big Boss was giving me very strong Georgie Zamdela vibes while Jade Fox and Lady Whirlwind gave me very strong Beatrix aka Black Mamba energies. Come to think of it, the way the fighting scenes were set up, it low key felt like I was watching Kill Bill (the re-imagined version).
Thebe Magugu and his team did a fantastic job. It’s 10’s across the board for me. From start to finish, every element worked so beautifully. The styling and make up…if someone from the team every stumbles upon this article, I would like to put it out there that, Jade Fox’s headlining piece lives rent free at the back of my mind.
If you haven’t checked out the film, click here.
cultureclubmag.com 