Living in the shadow of death
Oliver Schmitz’s new film sets out to show that no man is really a killing machine without there being consequences, writes Theresa Smith
SHEPHERDS and Butchers is set in Pretoria, circa late 1980s, but many of the street scenes were shot in the Cape Town CBD around the Magistrate’s Court.
The 34-day film shoot was across June/July last year and film director, Oliver Schmitz, laughs when I compliment him on the authentic orange phone booths in one scene: “My production designer was very proud of that,” he says via a Skype interview.
Producer Anant Singh approached Schmitz with the script, and while he wasn’t familiar with Chris Marnewick’s novel, this would not be the first time that he delved into the idea of a film about capital punishment.
Years ago, Schmitz worked on an idea with Achmat Dangor to tell the story of Robert McBride on death row, but that film came to naught between the potential financial backer going bankrupt and McBride pulling out of the project. Still, he doesn’t discount using that particular storyline as the basis for a fictional film.
“Alternatively, we could publish it and write a book about how not to make a movie,” he says, deadly serious.
Singh’s proposal for Shepherds and Butchers seemed like a perfect fit because for almost two decades now, Schmitz was haunted by his visits to the maximum security prison in Pretoria when he was still researching the potential McBride movie.
He learnt more about the ins and outs of capital punishment than he ever wanted to know.
“I wanted to make a film about that, but I thought this perspective was interesting as well because it was a film about the process of death and the death penalty, not from the prisoner’s point of view, but from a young warder’s point of view – somebody who has to carry out the sentence,” said Schmitz.
The main character’s family context struck a chord with Schmitz, who grew up in an Afrikaans suburb in Cape Town. The main character, Leon Labuschagne (played by Garion Dowds), chooses to work as a prison warden rather than join the army.
“It’s about a generation that I grew up in. Most of those kids I grew up with went to the army, they went to Angola. Quite a few of them came back pretty messed up and it’s about all of that in a certain way as well.”
Schmitz left the country rather than join the army and now lives in Germany where he also has a successful career making TV films and series, many of which are comedies.
“I do make people laugh, just in German,” as he puts it. “Maybe it is time I made a South African comedy. It has to be a good story, though.”
How then, to persuade people to watch Shepherds and Butchers when there is nothing light-hearted about it?
“It’s not a film of violence for violence’s sake. It’s not stylised violence, that was not the intention.
“Yes, it is a risk in terms of trying to get people to watch it, to have this approach. I was lucky to have a producer like Anant Singh who had the courage to do this story and a co-producer, Brian Cox, who wrote the script, who also did not want to shy away from showing the process of death.”
Schmitz deliberately did not follow the Hollywood stylised ritual towards depicting capital punishment, showing the moment of death rather than moving the camera to the faces of the watching people.
“We didn’t want to do that. I think we know this is not a Sunday lunch-time movie to go and watch with your family. It is shocking. Audiences from our first premiere in Berlin came out speechless. People I know could only speak about it the next day and give me their thoughts and feelings.
“I think, if you see it, you cannot but be moved by it. It goes to a dark place, but I think sometimes you have to go to a dark place to see the hope for a better world.” WARNER Bros is giving you a chance to win a hamper of The Accountant branded items. You could win a hamper containing a bottle, journal, cap and pocket protector (big joke in the movie).All you have to do is SMS the word ACCOUNTANT, your name, surname, e-mail address and the carrier paper (eg The Star) to 34445. Lines open today at 6am and close Monday at 10pm. Only the winners will be contacted. SMSes cost R1.50 each. T’s& C’s apply.