How 'Vuil Wasgoed' won several Silwerskermfees awards, heaven only knows, because this is a strong contender for one of the worst films of this year.
Rating: 1/5
Director Morné du Toit has produced an unfunny, cobbled together mess. Vuil Wasgoed’s story finds Wim (Bouwer Bosch) and Kevin (Bennie Fourie) going out to a party in their laundromat clients’ clothes. They discover a chopped-off finger that a lot of dangerous people are looking for and have to figure out how to get out of their predicament.
One of the biggest problems with the film is the number of glaring plot holes within it.
That being how the finger ends up with Wim and Kevin. Anyone with common sense would not have allowed the way it happens to take place.
Furthermore, the acting is also all over the place. The worst of the bunch being Bosch, who should rather stick to singing and leave acting to real actors who take their craft seriously. Fourie isn’t any better, as his lack of emotion and overall flat delivery leaves much to be desired.
Benjamin Willem, who is responsible for the sound design and musical score, produced one of the most egregious scores I’ve heard in a long time. Nothing drives me crazier than watching a film and taking notice of the musical score.
The sound design is also questionable, with it being evident that the sound effects were done during post-production. Screenwriter Bennie Fourie really outdid himself with the horrid comic timing in this film.
While watching 'Vuil Wasgoed', not a single joke landed and most of the humour just produced eye-rolls.
The characters are one-dimensional with most acting purely as plot devices, having no real character arc or growth. Tonally, I could see what he was aiming for, but to have a comedic film work effectively, the actors and screenplay must be on the same page.
Some of the actors seem as if they are in an over-the-top action comedy akin to Machete, others as if they were pulled from a comedy during the early 2000s. The rest – I’m looking at you, Nico Panagio – are just phoning in their performances.
The cinematography and editing are fine, although there were a few syncing issues. The film looks like it was a straight-to-streaming movie that was placed on the big screen. Vuil Wasgoed is the worst film I’ve seen this year. It has bad dialogue, a deplorable score and unlikable characters from beginning to end.
The fact that it won FIVE Silwerskermfees awards makes me question the judging of the festival, and whether the panel watched an alternative-universe version where it is actually good.