A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.
- Director
- Writer
- Stars
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total
- Card 2
- (as Joe Seakatsi)
- Narrator
- (voice)
- The Reverend
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Mrs. Thompson
- (uncredited)
- Mpudi
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Young woman with noise in her head
- (uncredited)
- The Reverend
- (uncredited)
- Kate Thompson
- (voice)
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe film ran for 532 consecutive days at the Oaks Theaters in Cupertino, California, setting a record for the longest uninterrupted run of any movie in Northern California. It was pulled only because the film reels fell into disrepair and a large section caught fire. After such a long run, replacing the reels was too expensive.
- GoofsAfter the assassination attempt in the village, the lead vehicle accidentally runs over a live chicken, not a prop or fake; when viewed frame-by-frame, it clearly tries leap out of the way.
- Quotes
Narrator: Only 600 miles to the south, there's a vast city. And here you find civilized man. Civilized man refused to adapt himself to his environment; instead, he adapted his environment to suit him. So he built cities, roads, vehicles, machinery, and he put up power lines to run his labour-saving devices. But somehow he didn't know where to stop. The more he improved his surroundings to make life easier, the more complicated he made it. So now his children are sentenced to 10-15 years of school, just to learn how to survive in this complex and hazardous habitat they were born into. And civilized man, who refused to adapt to his surroundings, now finds he has to adapt and re-adapt every hour of the day to his self-created environment. For instance, if it's Monday and 7:30 comes up, you have to dis-adapt from your domestic surroundings and re-adapt yourself to an entirely different environment. 8:00 means everybody has to look busy... 10:30 says you can stop looking busy for 15 minutes. And then you have to look busy again... And so your day is chopped into pieces, and in each segment of time you adapt to a new set circumstances.
Narrator: [Kate looks for a place to have her lunch] My I share a table?
Kate Thompson: No wonder some people go off the rails a bit...
Young woman with noise in her head: Does the noise in my head bother you?
Young woman with noise in her head: No...
Kate Thompson: [Later, Kate finds Pete] Pete, Have you still got that story about the teacher shortage in Botswana?
Pete: Yeah, you gonna use it?
Kate Thompson: No. Maybe they can use me.
Narrator: But in the Kalahari, it's always Tuesday, or Thursday if you like, or Sunday. No clocks or calendars tell you to do this or that.
- ConnectionsFeatured in N!Ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman (1981)
- SoundtracksThe Week's Work
(uncredited) [UK release print]
Music by John Fiddy and Sammy Burdson (i.e.Gerhard Narholz)
Sonoton Musikverlag
Like any story, there are some aspects which are slightly unbelievable if you stop to think - but the skill of the film is that it is sufficiently convincing to suspend such unbelief whilst you watch.
The message of the film is brilliantly presented, subtly challenging the belief that white civilization has all the answers, gently poking fun at many of our western assumptions (no idea why anyone thinks it's racist - it may be the opposite)!
Some of the high points for me personally were the scenery, the wildlife, and the African huts, children and music. Having lived in Africa for 3 years it was absolutely true to life, and brought back fond memories. This is a classic that will bear watching time and time again, and so different from the run of the mill films generally churned out.
A classic - 9/10.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Languages
- Also known as
- Die Götter müssen verrückt sein
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $30,031,783
- Gross worldwide
- $30,031,783