The Gods Must Be Crazy (film series)

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a series of films starring the Namibian San farmer and actor Nǃxau ǂToma.

Official films

The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
Main article: The Gods Must Be Crazy

The first film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a San of the Kalahari Desert whose tribe discovers an empty Coca-Cola bottle. The bottle brings discord to the tribe, and Xi is sent out into the unknown world beyond the Kalahari to return the bottle to the Gods by throwing the bottle off the world's end.

The Gods Must Be Crazy II (1989)
Main article: The Gods Must Be Crazy II

A sequel was released in 1989. Xi's name was changed to Xixo in this film. In it, Xixo's two young children encounter poachers in the Kalahari Desert, explore the back of their truck, and become unable to jump off once it starts moving. Xixo must once again travel great distances to retrieve them, and once again encounters various other western characters who are on quests of their own. The film is notable for the increased role of animals throughout the story, and for its light-hearted treatment of the civil war still raging in nearby Angola at the time.

Unofficial films

In the early 1990s, Nǃxau was cast in three low-budget unofficial sequels that continued the fish-out-of-water aspects of the first two films. They were produced in Hong Kong, filmed in Cantonese and then dubbed in other languages.

As of 2007, the three Hong Kong films have not been released in the United States, although they have been released on VCD format in China. The Gods Must Be Funny in China was recently released on DVD in South Africa.[1]

Crazy Safari (The Gods Must Be Crazy III) (1991)
Main article: Crazy Safari

A hopping vampire wreaks havoc in Nǃxau's tribe, but soon they discover how to handle him and he becomes a great asset to them. Meanwhile, a Chinese necromancer, sent by the corpse's descendants, searches for him, together with a bumbling cowardly representative charged with ensuring that the necromancer returns his ancestor as desired.[2]

Crazy Hong Kong (The Gods Must Be Crazy IV) (1993)

(Chinese: 香港也瘋狂) N!xau accidentally hitches a ride with a Chinese businesswoman from the African plain to her home in Hong Kong. With only his natural instincts and desert-honed survival skills, the intrepid Bushman evades a gang of diamond thieves and stumbles into one comic mishap after another as he tries to find his way back home.[3]

The Gods Must Be Funny in China (The Gods Must Be Crazy V) (1994)

(Chinese: 非洲超人) Hijinks ensue when Nǃxau travels to Beijing where he's recruited to accompany a track team on a week long survival race through the Chinese wilderness.[4]

Jewel of the Gods (1989)

A South African film, which also starred Marius Weyers and Sandra Prinsloo; officially unrelated but still marketed as a sequel to the first (1980) film.

There's a Zulu on My Stoep (1993)
Main article: There's a Zulu On My Stoep

While unrelated to the series, this film was marketed on video in some markets as Gods Must Be Crazy (Part IV).

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References
  1. Take2 DVD rentals: The Gods must be Funny
  2. http://notthistimenaylandsmith.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-gods-must-be-crazy-3-crazy-safari.html
  3. http://notthistimenaylandsmith.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-gods-must-be-crazy-4-crazy-hong.html
  4. http://notthistimenaylandsmith.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-gods-must-be-crazy-5-gods-must-be.html
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