Netnou Hoor die Kinders!

Another reviewer writes this off as a common Afrikaans movie of the 1970s and also attacks the script. The latter is in fact French playwright Robert Thomas's rather famous 8 Femmes which Francois Ozon many years later turned into almost a musical under its original title. The reviewer also refers to seven women but there are in fact eight.

Among Robert Thomas's most well-known plays count La Perruche et le Poulet (in Afrikaans as Babbelkous en Bruidegom); the play which Alfred Hitchcock bought but never filmed (although several other versions were made): Trap for a Lonely Man (also in Afrikaans as Lokval vir 'n Man Alleen); and of course Huit Femmes.

Franz Marx directed a number of movies in die 1970s and 1980s and also made some serious art films for television such as Die Buitestaander (The Outsider) and 'n Lug Vol Helder Wolke (A Sky full of Clear Clouds) based on the novel by Karel Schoeman before he launched Afrikaans's most famous soapie Egoli.

In Netnou Hoor Die Kinders (careful, the children might hear) Marx used eight of the most famous and adept Afrikaans stage actresses and he exploited both the staginess of the play and the stagecraft of the actresses. Sometimes the characters are way over the top, which is exactly what is needed to create both comedic moments and suspense. There is hardly anything common about the setting, the costumes, the script and especially the language (no vulgarities or coarse words) but double entendres abound. Nearly every line of dialogue is yet another twist in the tale and sting in the tail.

Although it certainly won't be regarded as either a classic or art, it still has great entertainment value, even more so for those of us fortunate enough to have experienced this bevy of actresses on the stage. They showed impeccable timing and in their continual one-upmanship never lost the tongue-in-cheek touch. And Marx directed with a deft hand.