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IMDbPro

The Gods Must Be Crazy

  • 19801980
  • AA
  • 1h 49m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
55K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,314
1,741
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.
Play trailer2:00
1 Video
43 Photos
AdventureComedy

A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.A comic allegory about a traveling Bushman who encounters modern civilization and its stranger aspects, including a clumsy scientist and a band of revolutionaries.

IMDb RATING
7.3/10
55K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
4,314
1,741
  • Director
    • Jamie Uys
  • Writer
    • Jamie Uys
  • Stars
    • N!xau
    • Marius Weyers
    • Sandra Prinsloo
Top credits
  • Director
    • Jamie Uys
  • Writer
    • Jamie Uys
  • Stars
    • N!xau
    • Marius Weyers
    • Sandra Prinsloo
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 183User reviews
    • 42Critic reviews
    • 73Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 3 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:00
    Trailer

    Photos43

    N!xau in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Eiros and Nadies in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Michael Thys in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Eiros, N!xau, and Nadies in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Sandra Prinsloo in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Marius Weyers in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Eiros and Nadies in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    N!xau in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Jamie Uys in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    Sandra Prinsloo in The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
    1 Sheet

    Top cast

    Edit
    N!xau
    N!xau
    • Xias Xi
    Marius Weyers
    Marius Weyers
    • Andrew Steynas Andrew Steyn
    Sandra Prinsloo
    Sandra Prinsloo
    • Kate Thompsonas Kate Thompson
    Louw Verwey
    • Sam Bogaas Sam Boga
    Michael Thys
    Michael Thys
    • Mpudias Mpudi
    Nic de Jager
    • Jack Hindas Jack Hind
    Fanyana H. Sidumo
    • Card 1as Card 1
    Joe Seakatsie
    • Card 2as Card 2
    Brian O'Shaughnessy
    • Mr. Thompsonas Mr. Thompson
    Ken Gampu
    Ken Gampu
    • Presidentas President
    Paddy O'Byrne
    • Narratoras Narrator
    • (voice)
    Graham Armitage
    Graham Armitage
    • The Reverendas The Reverend
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Vera Blacker
    • Mrs. Thompsonas Mrs. Thompson
    • (uncredited)
    Pip Freedman
    • Mpudias Mpudi
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Katinka Heyns
    • Young woman with noise in her headas Young woman with noise in her head
    • (uncredited)
    Jamie Uys
    Jamie Uys
    • The Reverendas The Reverend
    • (uncredited)
    Janet Wells
    Janet Wells
    • Kate Thompsonas Kate Thompson
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Jamie Uys
    • Writer
      • Jamie Uys
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    Storyline

    Edit
    A Sho in the Kalahari desert encounters technology for the first time--in the shape of a Coke bottle. He takes it back to his people, and they use it for many tasks. The people start to fight over it, so he decides to return it to the God--where he thinks it came from. Meanwhile, we are introduced to a clumsy biologist, a schoolteacher assigned to a small village, and a despotic revolutionary. —Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
    junkjunk foodmultinational corporationpoppop bottle89 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • The critics are raving... the natives are restless... and the laughter is non-stop!
    • Genres
      • Adventure
      • Comedy
    • Certificate
      • A
    • Parents guide

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The film ran for 532 consecutive days at the Oaks Theaters in Cupertino, California, setting a record for the longest uninterrupted run of any movie in Northern California. It was pulled only because the film reels fell into disrepair and a large section caught fire. After such a long run, replacing the reels was too expensive.
    • Goofs
      After the assassination attempt in the village, the lead vehicle accidentally runs over a live chicken, not a prop or fake; when viewed frame-by-frame, it clearly tries leap out of the way.
    • Quotes

      Narrator: Only 600 miles to the south, there's a vast city. And here you find civilized man. Civilized man refused to adapt himself to his environment; instead, he adapted his environment to suit him. So he built cities, roads, vehicles, machinery, and he put up power lines to run his labour-saving devices. But somehow he didn't know where to stop. The more he improved his surroundings to make life easier, the more complicated he made it. So now his children are sentenced to 10-15 years of school, just to learn how to survive in this complex and hazardous habitat they were born into. And civilized man, who refused to adapt to his surroundings, now finds he has to adapt and re-adapt every hour of the day to his self-created environment. For instance, if it's Monday and 7:30 comes up, you have to dis-adapt from your domestic surroundings and re-adapt yourself to an entirely different environment. 8:00 means everybody has to look busy... 10:30 says you can stop looking busy for 15 minutes. And then you have to look busy again... And so your day is chopped into pieces, and in each segment of time you adapt to a new set circumstances.

      Narrator: [Kate looks for a place to have her lunch] My I share a table?

      Kate Thompson: No wonder some people go off the rails a bit...

      Young woman with noise in her head: Does the noise in my head bother you?

      Young woman with noise in her head: No...

      Kate Thompson: [Later, Kate finds Pete] Pete, Have you still got that story about the teacher shortage in Botswana?

      Pete: Yeah, you gonna use it?

      Kate Thompson: No. Maybe they can use me.

      Narrator: But in the Kalahari, it's always Tuesday, or Thursday if you like, or Sunday. No clocks or calendars tell you to do this or that.

    • Connections
      Featured in N!Ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman (1981)
    • Soundtracks
      The Week's Work
      (uncredited) [UK release print]

      Music by John Fiddy and Sammy Burdson (i.e.Gerhard Narholz)

      Sonoton Musikverlag

    User reviews183

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    A Masterpiece
    What starts out as a simple tale of the bush turns into a wild adventure with a coke bottle, revolutionaries, a dis-enchanted office worker turned teacher, and a scientist who studies animal dung with no skills around women. Add a smart-tongued mechanic and a 4x4 called the antichrist, and you have one of the funniest movies ever to come out of South Africa. You laugh as much at the ludicrous nature of some of the situations as much as what they want you to laugh at. You may never look at Africa the same again.
    helpful•58
    7
    • medrjel
    • Feb 17, 2002

    FAQ1

    • Do rhinos really stamp out fires or was this made up for the movie?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 10, 1980 (South Africa)
    • Country of origin
      • South Africa
    • Languages
      • English
      • Afrikaans
      • Ungwatsi
    • Also known as
      • Die Götter müssen verrückt sein
    • Filming locations
      • Johannesburg, South Africa
    • Production companies
      • C.A.T. Films
      • Mimosa Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $5,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $30,031,783
    • Gross worldwide
      • $30,031,783
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 49 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.39 : 1

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