The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
The first film released in 1980, written and directed by Jamie Uys. Set in Botswana and South Africa, it tells the story of Xi, a San of the Kalahari Desert whose tribe discovers an empty Coca-Cola bottle. The bottle brings discord to the tribe, and Xi is sent out into the unknown world beyond the Kalahari to return the bottle to the Gods by throwing the bottle off the world's end.
10. It ran in one theater for so long that the reels burned up.
The film ran for 532 consecutive days at Oaks Theater in Cupertino, California. That became a record long run for any film in Northern California. The reels had to be discarded however since they were simply too battered and too damaged to be repaired.
During its release the film was the world’s biggest non-US box office hit.
A lot of films haven’t been able to compete with US films when it comes to the box office and this was likely no different. It was kind of an odd film but it had that strange, alluring quality that allowed people to get sucked into watching it at least once if not twice. The sequel wasn’t quite as good since it wasn’t as new or as exciting. But this movie did manage to get a lot of views.
9. The depiction of the bushmen was no longer accurate as of 1980.
For the sake of the film the bushmen were left the way they’d been in the past so as to savor the experience. But things were no longer this way moving into the 80’s, as the world had caught up with these people by then in some way at least and they knew a little more than their predecessors.
8. The production team consisted of less than thirty men.
The director wanted them all to be men and they were all novices on top of it. He said he did this on purpose so that everyone would listen to him and not come up with some idea that they knew better. More or less that’s what he said.
7. None of the people that were shown in the film received royalties.
To be a little more accurate, none of the Khosian people featured in this film received any royalties. This doesn’t seem legal if they had contracts. But even if they didn’t it would be heavily frowned upon today.
6. The director suffered a heart attack after working too hard.
After months of working 12 to 18 hour days he suffered a pretty heavy heart attack and had to be replaced when it came to finishing the rest of the film so that he could recuperate.
5. It was banned in Trinidad and Tobago.
This was done because of the implications that the film was in some way racist. No one really fought this it seems since there were moments in the film that seemed a little suspect. But throughout the rest of the world it was still a hit since it worked as a comedy and as an overall interesting film.
4. The main plot of the film centers around a Coke bottle.
After everything you’ve seen in the description and everything you might remember this is the meat of the story. The Coke bottle that was flung from a plane and found by Xi was the reason why this movie got its start in the first place. It’s an interesting idea to be honest.
2. It had a budget of $5 million.
The film wound up making $100 million overall, which back then was a huge sum of money.
1. The star only received a minimal salary for his work.
The man that played Xi was given only $5,000 for his part in the film. But later on the director gave him $20,000 and a monthly stipend.