I saw this movie at the 2007 International Film Festival of Rotterdam. The director and a lead actor (Kegiso Lediga) were present at the screening for a Q&A.
Three stand-up comedians from Johannesburg and a weird white guy are the central characters in this story. Without giving away too much of the plot, here is how the main characters set out.
Dave (Dave Kibuuka) is probably the handsomest of the bunch. His friends think his girlfriend is out of his league, though. He is funny and charming off-stage, but has trouble with his material during performances.
Keg (Kegiso Lediga) has a big mouth and plenty of self-confidence. His beautiful girlfriend Kim (Kim Engelbrecht) wants to take their relationship "to the next level" He seems to have his reservations. She is suspicious when any women gets near him or even calls him.
Chubby Joey (Joey Yusuf Rasden) is the clown of the group. In his quieter moments, he contemplates if he is true enough to his Muslim heritage.
The three of them and the fast-talking white guy Salah (Salah Sabito) go on the road for a stand-up gig at a festival.
Like the successful television comedy Seinfeld, this movie focuses on the daily life of a stand-up comedian. Or in this case: three stand-up comedians. The location is not New York, but another cultural melting pot: Johannesburg. South Africa. Here is where the similarities stop, though.
Bunny Chow's photography (black & white shot in high definition video) gives it a rougher edge. There is no nudity or sex, but there is quite some swearing and macho talk about women. So this may not be your typical dating movie, but perhaps more something for a night with the guys..
What really works in this film are the naturally flowing dialogs and fine acting. What helps of course, is that most actors play characters that are not too removed from their real-life persona. As a result, this all feels very real, and not acted, without becoming a documentary.
What I really like is the good chemistry between all the main characters. This is not very hard to imagine if you know that most of the cast are friends outside the scope of this film. This comes across very well on screen.
Plotwise, there is not much renewing going on, but this will probably not bother anyone very much. This is basically a sequence of many - often funny - situations and events happening with a group of characters who happen to be stand-up comedians in South Africa.
I can recommend this movie to anybody who likes stand-up comedy and who is not easily offended by some male chauvinistic humor. I rate this as an interesting and entertaining watch,suitable for repeat viewing: 9/10.
Language Trivia: Most of the movie is in English, with some dialog in Afrikaans. Be warned that the English dialog is often very difficult to follow, because or poor sound conditions (e.g. noisy background) and heavy South African accents. I spoke with someone who is from Johannesburg and even she had trouble following some of the language..
I saw this movie with only the Afrikaans being subtitled. I missed probably 40% of the English dialog. The remaining 60% is still funny enough to have made this worth my while, though. The filmmakers acknowledge the problem and have plans to have all of the dialog subtitled.
Casting Trivia: The three main characters are in real life also stand-up comedians. Kim Engelbrecht, who plays Keg's girlfriend has in real life also had her go as a stand-up comedian.
Photography Trivia: The black and white photography in high definition video (HD) was chosen after doing a series of tests. The director thought this looked best considering the (very low) budget that they had to make this movie. He also liked what B&W did for urban movies that he admires such as Manhattan and La Haine. He likes the "New York look" Bunny Chow got as a result.
Title Trivia: "Bunny Chow" is a kind of South African food. It is basically a bread with a lot of stuff in it. As is explained in the first minute of the movie, for the filmmakers it symbolizes "the ethnic melting pot that is the city of Johannesburg."
