Necktie Youth (2015) - Sibs Shongwe-La Mer

Sibs Shongwe-La Mer's Necktie Youth opens with the suicide of Emily, a high school student, who hangs herself while live streaming it online.  Fast-forwarding a year later, the film follows a group of disillusioned South African youth, primarily Jabz and his best friend September, as they go about their day in the suburbs of Johannesburg, drifting alone in disillusionment.  Sibs Shongwe-La Mer's Necktie Youth isn't a film without its share of problems, but I hardly cared while watching this passionate film, as it delivers a brooding, cynical portrait of disenchanted youth and humanity in general.  While there have been many films that tackle disillusionment of the young, many of these films focus more so on the anger and angst, which isn't really what Necktie Youth is trying to achieve.  Necktie Youth has its share of angst, but what this film focuses on is the utter hopelessness of these individuals, who see a world around them that has nothing to offer them.  The intro to Necktie Youth is very compelling, with our main protagonist, Jabz, talking about his home as stills of Johannesburg are splashed across the screen.  The sequence is powerful but also goes too far in spelling out the thematic intentions of the film, making it very clear that the inherent selfishness of humanity is going to be a major focus of the film.  The structure of Necktie Youth is rather simple, yet effective, intercutting between a day-in-life of these characters and interviews related to the death of Emily, as many of the characters the film tracks were classmates of hers.  Necktie Youth doesn't make any excuses for these young characters, in fact if anything it makes a point to capture their inherent privilege, which has led to a lack of passion or focus in their life.  It's a film that seems in conflict as to whether show empathy for these characters or simply anger towards their hopelessness, something which I'd argue is a strength to the film.  While Necktie Youth is a rather grim portrait of humanity, you'd hardly know it from the surface, as the film is a lot of fun, relying on a well written script and the chemistry between Jabz and September to break up the grim undercurrent.  September is a character of vapid entertainment, being an important characterization in the film that provides a perfect compliment to the more brooding Jabz.  Starting with the intro, Necktie Youth owes a lot of its stylistic flourishes to the French New Wave, in particular Godard, but I'd argue these flourishes serve a much different intention, helping to break-up the brooding, cynicism which could have become overbearing.  The film features some rather grim themes, focusing on the undercurrent of racism that exists in Johannsberg, the economic disparity, and the coldness of technology, all of which are used to paint a vivid and provocative portrait of the inherent selfishness of humanity.  Necktie Youth firmly believes that we live in a world where individuals are simply out for themselves, unwilling to help each other out if it serves no personal gain for themselves.  Perhaps the strongest attribute of the entire film is the characterization of Jabz, our closest thing to a main protagonist.  The film intentionally remains vague when it comes to his relationship with Emily, but there is a quiet despair associated with Jabz, which makes it clear that the death of Emily is still consuming him. Sibs Shongwe-La Mer's Necktie Youth is a harrowing look at the current state of humanity perceived by the filmmakers, offering up a film that feels both very personal and universally profound.  

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