Riva is an operator, a man with charm and ambition in equal measure. Kinshasa is an inviting place. With petrol in short supply in DRC's capital, he and his sidekick pursue a plot to get hold of a secret cache - barrels of fuel they can sell for a huge profit. Of course they're not the only ones who want the stuff.
Cesar is a ruthless, sharply dressed foreigner thriving in Kinshasa's lawless streets. A female military officer joins the fray. Even the church will betray its tenets for a piece of the action. But Riva's main nemesis is Azor, a crime boss in the classic style: big, decadent and brutal. He's not a man to mess with, but his girlfriend, Nora, may just be the most seductive woman in all of DRC. Riva catches sight of her dancing at a nightclub and it's not long before Nora matches the fuel cache as a coveted object of his lust. Read more …
On the basis of this expertly engineered crime thriller Djo Munga is a director going places.
A flashy gangster drama.
Whether Viva Riva!’s highly watchable, commendable, yet unavoidably conventional qualities will inspire a new wave of Congolese cinema is uncertain, but for world cinema veterans, at least, it offers the opportunity to cross off one more country from the list.
It’s all suitably sleazy and uncompromising in its depiction of organised crime and corruption, but there’s little sense of urgency or control over the myriad characters, each with their own side stories, few of them convincing.
With the best will in the world, you have to say that Munga's screenplay rarely rises above the conventional, but he keeps things motoring nicely, and there's the smell of authenticity about the ramshackle locations he's chosen.
The exoticism of its setting is the only thing really distinguishing Viva Riva! from dozens of straight-to-DVD B-movie crime thrillers.
Brutal and simplistic, the film nevertheless delivers rough excitement with a certain rude style.
Its initial crackling vibrancy soon dissipates, and Riva's own misadventures are swallowed up in a mire of supporting characters, silly sub-plots, and stomach-turning violence, much of it directed at women.
Writer-director Djo Munga brings Kinshasa to rumbustious life, and should he devote the same attention to character and dialogue he may be a talent to reckon with.
Viva Riva!'s Djo Tunda Wa Munga: action man
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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