WHAT MAKES A MAN A MAN
‘Knuckle City’ looks at masculinity from within and beyond its codes, writes
Jahmil XT Qubeka’s latest film,
Knuckle City, a boxing story set in the Eastern Cape Township of Mdantsane, opened the Durban International Film Festival on Thursday. Starring Bongile Mantsai, Thembekile Komani, Faniswa Yisa, Patrick Ndlovu and the late Nomhle Nkonyeni, it’s a Scorsese-inspired tale of the fight for escape, fame and family set against the backdrop of one of SA’s most fertile grounds for the creation of pugilist heroes.
How did the idea for the story come about?
I was always aware of it growing up in Mdantsane. I’ve had a concept for this project for quite a while but have been holding back on it. I came into the industry at a time when people were making genre films. My feeling was that, considering the archetypes I knew based on my own life experience, making a boxer/gangster film was a simple, easy thing for me to do. So I avoided it because I felt I’d rather experiment with making other types of films. It is a genre film in many respects, but would
you also consider it a particularly personal film?
It is personal, even though I’ve packaged it in a “gangster, boxing, crime, noir” genre. It’s allowed me to go back home and explore the characters and the culture of the place in which I grew up.
Each character is a composite of characters I either knew, was told about or read about. Even the most absurd elements of the film are real. It’s a mishmash of life experience, which I think, unapologetically for me, is part of the fabric of my work. Most of us have an outlet that’s an expression of our humanity. Mine is film, which is admittedly an expensive one but it’s my attempt to make sense of reality. That’s what I’m trying to do when I look at a film, that’s what I’m trying to do while making a film. I also try to make it an entertaining experience that people will be willing to pay the ticket price to watch.
The issue of toxic masculinity is at the forefront of the story. Was that a conscious decision?
While doing research I noticed the high incidence of physical abuse in our society and the frustrating detachment from family. The biggest fight is the one at home, with their families. It’s a struggle to be a normal father or head of the family and lead a decent, normal life. When they’re training, these guys are able to discipline themselves for the sake of this brutal sport, but they’re unable to sit at home and bounce their kids on their knees and open up to their wives or partners.
I wanted to try and unpack that with regards to the idea of misplaced or toxic masculinity. Outside of the ring these guys are undisciplined and horribly abuse of their partners — that’s their biggest fight.
A lot of it is inherited habit that passes down from one generation to another. If you can maintain the discipline of going to the gym for four hours a day, why can’t you carry that over into your life outside the ring?
You worked with Nomhle Nkonyeni on what was one of her last movie appearances. What was your relationship with her like?
This is the third film I made with her. I call her a rebel with a cause — she was a powerhouse, not just in terms of her performance but also as a human being. I was intimidated in her presence because I found that she saw through my bullshit. But my interactions have always been open with her — unlike other people, she liked me to be completely straightforward. She taught me to have less fear. She’s always known who she is and what she wants. That confidence is encouraging for everyone she works with.
What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
It’s time to have a conversation, not a shouting match, regarding what we think we are, especially around masculinity and its place in an increasingly changing world. If we’re going to look at the abuse of women and children across the world, we need to look at the perpetrators — us, young and not so young men. In that conversation we need to unpack what we label as a man. We need to shed light on the dirty corners of our society. The beauty of film is its ability to do that.