Lord Jones Is Dead (2016)

(On Cable TV, September 2021) You wouldn’t necessarily expect a theatrical piece featuring three characters to delve deeply into matters of journalistic ethics and the future of newspapers, but that’s exactly what Lord Jones Is Dead aims to do. Adapted from a play, the film presents three journalists (two writers, one photographer) trying to stay sane during a particularly meaningless news stakeout. Camped near a humble Johannesburg suburban bungalow trying to get a glimpse of a minister’s rumoured mistress while other people are doing more interesting things, our characters argue, complain, play and come to (ineffectual) blows over the course of the day. Their main topic of contemplation is the news itself — specifically the way the Internet undermines journalism, sending it to the common lowest denominator, emptying advertising revenues and harming the noble profession. Of course, our insiders know better than anyone else how the sausage is made — one of them may still have his ideals, but another one doesn’t, and the third member of the trio isn’t much of a referee. Various episodes try to stretch the film to various degrees of success — the musical number is oddly charming, but Austin Andrews’s directorial showmanship gets ridiculous at times — spinning the camera and having the character speak intently to his cell phone works solely because it’s a close-up, otherwise it would be ridiculous staged as a long shot. Nonetheless, Lord Jones is Dead becomes a surprisingly entertaining film — it milks every single possibility out of its setting and characters, creates some depth to their shared history and common acquaintances, and actually wrestles with topics of somewhat specialized interest. Jonathan Pienaar is a highlight as the jaded and bemused photographer who barely gets to act as an elderly figure. It’s true that my above-average interest in journalism issues predisposes me favourably to the film, but there’s something simply admirable in tackling a narrow (but vital) topic in the way Lord Jones is Dead does, stripping down setting in order to focus on character and having fun with the mise-en-scène along the way.