The Gods Must Be Crazy

Kalahari bushman Xi (played by genuine bushman N!xau) is as surprised as the rest of his tribe when a Coke bottle, thrown from a passing plane, lands in the middle of their village. This “gift from the gods” proves to be a mixed blessing when the tribesmen fight over it and eventually use it for a weapon. To keep peace in the village, Xi is assigned to take the bottle to “the end of the earth” and throw it back to the gods. Meanwhile, back in urbanised South Africa, Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo) leaves her office job in the city to take a job teaching Kalahari children. Once in the wilderness, she finds herself constantly bumping into clumsy microbiologist Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers). Originally slated for limited domestic distribution in 1982, The Gods Must Be Crazy was picked up for American consumption by 20th Century-Fox in 1984. Within a few weeks, ‘word of mouth’ transformed it into the biggest foreign box office hit ever released in the U.S.