Valley of a Thousand Hills

Valley of a Thousand Hills is a great depiction of a small, traditional community and all the positives and negatives that go along with it. The movie manages to combine universal themes with specific, local details. Shame about that ending though.

The film begins with Nosipho celebrating her coming of age. While this is a joyous occasion, it opens up new problems. Now that Nosipho is officially of age, she’s expected to marry. Her father is a powerful local leader with a strong sense of tradition. And he worries how his daughter’s actions reflect on him. But Nosipho doesn’t want to marry. She’s already in love with a woman named Thenjiwe. Thenjiwe wants to be open about their relationship which Nosipho does not. In a bid to stay close to Thenjiwe while still pleasing her father, Nosipho agrees to marry Thenjiwe’s brother.

Obviously, Valley of a Thousand Hills deals with themes of homophobia. Though stronger than that, the film is about women’s rights. The film doesn’t have a strong opinion of arranged marriage. But Nosipho’s arranged marriage isn’t merely bad because she’s gay. Valley of a Thousand Hills constantly depicts men making decisions for and about women. All without considering the woman’s well-being let alone personal autonomy. It’s heartbreaking and frustrating to see these intelligent, vibrant, human woman have decisions made for them.

Women’s rights is just one of many universal themes Valley of a Thousand Hills explores. Universal as those themes are, there is always a specific sense of place in the specifics. Costume, language and setting make the story read clearly as Zulu. And the film is very much meant to comment on that specific society. But its themes of community, sexism, love and disappointing your parents have universal appeal.

Valley of a Thousand Hills is largely a strong piece of work. But the ending brings it down. It’s extremely rushed. We go from the lowest part of Nosipho’s life which is covered briefly before we’re in the upswing again next scene. Then, for all of one scene it looks like Valley of a Thousand Hills will have a happy ending. Only for the very last scene to get sadder and bleaker still. None of the events in this last act are bad. But it’s a whiplash of tone and emotion that comes without satisfactory build-up.

The last act brings Valley of a Thousand Hills down from a positive review to as mixed review. The film tells a good story with passion. But the ending of this good story loses a level of nuance and pacing. It’s a bummer of an ending. And not just in regards to the in-universe events but in the execution of said events.

Overall rating: 6.0/10

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