JERUSALEMA: ON VIOLENCE AND HOPE IN A NEW SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

South African crime epic Gangster Paradise: Jerusalema (2008) addresses itself to director Ralph Ziman’s take on post-apartheid private enterprise through the transformation of Lucky Kunene from a township boy into a slumlord millionaire. This paper foregrounds Ziman’s representations of violence and the religious symbolism of hope as the two essential elements for interpreting Jerusalema. Using critical discourse analysis, the paper argues that Lucky Kunene’s hopes for a New Jerusalem in post-apartheid South Africa, even though, given his background, the idea of what exactly that might constitute of is not rooted in any past that he knows of, represent for him a new beginning that he can initiate its violent manifestation in the present while awaiting its full realization in the future. The paper begins with establishing the place of violence in South African films and in Jerusalema in particular, drawing on film realism theory to buttress its argument. Then, focusing on Psalm 137, it assesses the religious symbolism of the film title and how that plays into Lucky’s hopes for a New Jerusalem.