Were it not for Die Antwoord, let’s face it, Chappie would have just been a simple RoboCop-meets-Short Circuit riff, but Neill Blomkamp‘s biggest stroke of genius in the whole thing was throwing the bizarre are-they-or-aren’t-they-a-put-on South African techno-rappers into the formula, delivering onscreen performances that, love them or hate them, were most certainly unique.
When it comes to film-making of their own, however, they’re the real deal. And in this new short (it’s not a music video, as the only tunes are ambient and scarce), they’ve roped in fellow musician/movie scene-stealer Jack Black (who let the band headline his comedy showcase Festival Supreme two years ago). It’s pretty NSFW, but mostly because of the usual childish swearing and dick drawings the band’s Ninja is so fond of.
The story of a boy whose fears of rats are dismissed by his parents, only to have them all come true but be on his side, is some sort of metaphor for scary puberty and adulthood, with the parents alternating between exaggerates hysteria and David Lynchian comic facade. Tommy himself looks like he came right out of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and Die Antwoord’s Yo-Landi Vi$$er, who also directed, is her usual otherworldy self, this time with rat incisors.
Found via Australian music site Tone Deaf, this video reminds me of ’90s “official bootlegs” like Nine Inch Nails’ “Broken” or Perry Farrell’s “Gift,” videos we couldn’t see on TV or buy in stores but sometimes found via friends who shared them. You can’t recreate that experience of seeing something faux-forbidden in the Internet age, but I can say I’d like to see Yo-Landi try her hand at bigger, longer films. Heck, let her try Chappie 2 on a low budget and see what happens.
I fink it’s freaky and I like it a lot. Am I nuts? Let’s hear your thoughts in comments.
Image: Die Antwoord
