MOVIE REVIEW: Viva Riva!


Viva Riva! It has to be one of the crudest movies I have ever watched, and with a stark reality that firmly sinks its teeth into you, gripping you through a very incredulous ride.

Its took 3M Euros and 7 years to create this 90-minute masterpiece, one of the best films I have ever seen coming out of Africa, and in this case the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The plot unfolds fast and solid, bleakly weaving a mind-boggling web of corruption, sensuality and bloodshed in pursuit of something the entire world loves – cash.

Riva is a good thug – if there is any such thing – but everybody is looking for him, and not just for his good looks. They will do anything, befriend him, sleep with him and even kill him, to get to what he has in his possession.

“Money is like poison… It always kills you,” Riva is warned, and this message is replicated in the entire story-line, as casualties pile up in a frantic hunt for cash.

As disgusting amounts of money change hands at the drop of a hat, the abject poverty that afflicts the people around the ‘carriers’ is something to ponder.

Set in Kinshasa, Director Djo Munga paints a not-so-well-known picture of its lawless streets.

The movie, which stars Patsha Bay, Manie Malone and Hoji Fortuna opened in Ireland in June this year and more than $100,000 later, it is showing on Big Screen in Nairobi.

It has been feted by local movie-goers as a work of art.

With several steamy scenes that make you want to bite your nail, Capital Lifestyle advises that you don’t watch it with kids.

It is showing in a cinema near you.

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