HOT CHILI (2003, Botswana, 49 min.), written and directed by Moabi Mogorosi; produced by ABI Films and Wright Brothers Photoplay; cinematography
by Michael NJ Wright; music by the Segaetsho Orchestra; edited by Michael NJ Wright and 6 O’Clock; with Moabi Mogorosi (Motshwari, the
Gardener), Seingwaeng Kgafela
(Princess Phatisimo), Kabo Ditlhakeng (Prince Moelwa), Kosontsong Mashumba (King Thabano, Phatisimo’s father), Busang Motsumi (Mosotli), Boitumolo Sollo (King Bonolo, Prince Moilwa’s father). In English and Setswanan with English subtitles.
Hot Chili is the
product of an unusual collaboration between an irrepressible young Botswanan and his American film teacher. Moabi Mogorosi studied filmmaking at
The film has a timeless setting. Indeed, the title is introduced with the
phrase, “Once upon a time in
As the film opens, we see the village women pounding their
grain, and a young man in workman’s blues having an affectionate conversation
with a pretty young woman. He is a
humble gardener. She is Princess Phatisimo, and her father, King Thabano,
is not at all happy to see this relationship.
Why is she wasting her time with this commoner, when she knows that he
wants her to marry someone rich and royal, perhaps even the dashing young
Prince Moelwa, son of the neighboring King Bonolo? In a week,
the suitors for her hand will be allowed to come and make their bid. This is no time for her to be spending time
with a servant.
Phatisimo
is a strong-willed, upright young woman who knows her own mind—she insists that
she has the right to choose whom she will see.
And for now, she chooses Motshwari.
Motshwari (played by the film’s
writer/director, Moabi Mogorosi)
is much loved by the ordinary people of the village. Though a servant, he sees himself as an
“independent contractor,” choosing where and whom he will serve. When he sees foolishness and injustice—i.e.,
when two young noblemen try to compel boys to fight each other, for no reason
other than it is a way to relieve their own boredom, he intervenes and manages,
through some adroitness and cunning, to chase them off (much to the approval of
his beloved princess). Still, in
general, Motshwari is not much good as a fighter;
that is not where his strength lies.
When he takes on the nobility directly, he cannot win.
For he is no “lion.” At one point,
he sneaks up behind Phatisimo, playfully covers her
eyes, and asks her to guess who he is.
Equally playful, she guesses and then quickly dismisses that he is a
lion, then an elephant, then a hyena, then a hippo, and finally his true totem,
the rabbit (who is “clever, cunning, witty, gentle”). Still, if the rabbit has one weakness, it is
a lack of stubborn determination, and that is what he will need if he is to be
a hero and win her hand. For a while it
seems that he will be unable to overcome the plotting of his rival, Prince Moelwa, or the opposition of Phatisimo’s
father, King Thabano.
Though she clearly loves him, the princess berates him for his
self-pitying resignation: “Unlike you, I
have to face my problems,” she tells him.
Ironically,
it will be the father’s decision to create a contest for the suitors, an ordeal
for them to undergo in order to prove their worthiness, that
will allow Motshwari to seize the initiative and
triumph. King Thabano
comes up with a way to demonstrate the toughest of the tough (whom he assumes
will be the self-proclaimed world’s greatest warrior, Prince Moelwa). It will be
an ordeal by fire—but not the kind that we usually associate with myths and
legends. Here, the fire will be supplied
by hot chili stew, and it is the kind of fire that only the cleverest of the
clever can survive!
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--Notes by Michael Dembrow