Toorbos | South African Film Festival
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Date Reviewed: 12/05/2021
Toorbos is a unique film experience that combines spirituality, the effects of deforestation and culture change and does it brilliantly!
Set in Kenya in the 1930s, Toorbos traces the journey of forest dweller and free spirit Karoliena Kapp, a teenage girl living in poverty-stricken circumstances. Spiritually-linked with the forest, she’s taken away from her home to the city by a former forest dweller who wants her for his wife.
Dealing with issues, still timely even by today’s standards, Toorbos deals with Karoliena’s deep connection with nature, her role as a woman, the memory of her late father and her quest to be true to her own standards.
Toorbos translates as “dream forest” and this is powerfully shown in the scenes of Karoliena ‘talking’ to the trees of the forest.
Director Rene van Rooyen delves deeply into the sub text of the film and delivers a compelling message that links identity, climate change and family.
His characters are well drawn and deliver riveting performances, particularly the central character Karoliena (Elani Dekker)
Dekker, who is virtually every scene, is fascinating to watch, torn between two worlds and the people shezloves. She delivers an inner strength that permeates everyone she meets.
Karoliena’s mother powerfully played by Ira Blanckenberg faces a decision made by many parents today, i.e., the ‘letting go’ of the direction of a child’s life and allowing them to make their own decisions. The scene in which she tells her Karoliena to leave and never see her again is heart rending.
Stiaan Smith’s Johannes Stander is compassionate and loving, only wanting the best for his new wife. He makes the ultimate sacrifice (letting her return to the forest) but never loses hope. His patience is rewarded.
Ivan Abraham’s Bothatjie (Karoliena’s ‘uncle’) is a lesson in quiet strength. He is the ‘voice’ of the forest and his performance in the storm scene is a highlight.
The real star of Toorbos is the forest itself; moody, majestic and beautifully photographed, it underlies the whole film.
Toorbos is a superb film that is timely, cinematically stunning and has a lesson for us all!
Reviewed by Barry Hill