As we quickly approach yet another Toronto International Film Festival, which is set to have perhaps its biggest year ever in 2018, it’s time to take a look back to 2017 and a film that surprised many — “Five Fingers for Marseilles.”
Debuting at TIFF as part of the 2017 Discovery section, ‘Five Fingers’ is the feature directorial debut for South African filmmaker Michael Matthews. The Western features a group of five rebels, aka the Five Fingers, as they stand up for a small colonial town known as Marseilles. The town of Marseilles finds itself needing saving from the likes of crooked police oppression that only these Five Fingers can help with.
READ MORE: ‘Five Fingers For Marseilles’ Is A South African Spaghetti Western [Review]
In the red band trailer for the film, we see exactly why Matthews’ film surprised many at TIFF. The visual style is distinct, and the violence is amped up, as we see the titular rebels defending their town, with buckets of blood flowing through the streets.
The film stars Vuyo Dabula, Hamilton Dhlamini, Zethu Dlomo, Kenneth Nkosi, Mduduzi Mabaso, and Aubrey Poolo.
“Five Fingers for Marseilles” opens in limited release on September 7.
Here’s the synopsis:
The residents of the colonial town of Marseilles are under the thumb of police oppression and only the young rebels known as the Five Fingers are willing to stand up to them. Their battle is just, until Tau kills two policemen and flees the scene. The remaining rebels disband while the banished Tau resorts to a life of crime. Twenty years later, now known as feared outlaw The Lion of Marseilles, he is released from prison. He returns home, desiring only peace and to reconnect with those he left behind. The battle for South Africa’s freedom has been won, and former comrades-in-arms are in prominent positions as mayor, police chief, and pastor. But it quickly becomes clear to Tau that Marseilles is caught in the grip of a vicious new threat — and he must reconstitute the Five Fingers to fight frontier justice. Standing against former allies and new enemies, the re-formed Five Fingers saddle up and ride out, and put their lives at risk to save their beloved Marseilles.