Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008) on Netflix
Lucky Kunene and his friend Zakes are teenagers in Soweto with no money for school. Nazareth, a local crime lord, hires them for small robberies that turn into carjackings.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.3/1011,115 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes77%
Trailer
Plot summary
Lucky Kunene and Zakes Mbolelo are teenagers in Soweto, and Lucky learns he has not won the scholarship that would keep him in school. Needing money, the two fall in with Nazareth, a crime lord who hands them small robberies that lead to carjackings, and Lucky lets his studies go. A robbery goes badly wrong, and the pair flee to Johannesburg, where they run a taxi business in Hillbrow. When a carjacking costs Lucky that business, he founds the Hillbrow People's Housing Trust, promising tenants half-price rent and pressing landlords to accept less. Detective Blakkie Swart begins building a case against him.
Cast
- Daniel Bucklandas Josh Freidlander
- Shelley Meskinas Leah Friedlander (as Shelly Meskin)
- Malusi Skenjanaas Tony Ngu
- Motlatsi Mahlokoas Young Zakes
- Lerato Moloias Loretta Dlamini
- Thandy Matlailaas Young Nomsa
- Mzwandile Ngubenias Young Bull
- Gladys Mahlanguas Mama Kunene
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (2008)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Writer-director Ralph Ziman based Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema on Lucky Kunene, a real underworld figure who in the 1990s took over real estate in Johannesburg's Hillbrow neighborhood, buying buildings through legal purchase.
- The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans' Association criticized the film for its portrayal of military veterans; its national chairperson Kebby Maphatsoe said the insult denied South Africans and their children the chance to learn the truth about their history.
- Working with a reduced crew on a small budget, Ralph Ziman's team used skateboards as camera dollies and old-technology cameras; he said viewers would not realize how the film was made.
- Two churches objected to the film: the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa criticized its title, which takes the holy city of Jerusalem for a criminal underworld, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church criticized using the Biblical name Nazareth for a gangster.
- Ralph Ziman ran the African hymn "Jerusalema" through the film, saying its use might seem cynical but that it underlines a continuing sense of hope.
- Producer Tendeka Matatu said the characters came from research sketches, and that the team met many MK veterans living on the edge of poverty who felt betrayed after fighting for a better life for all.
