The Night Is Dead

The Night Is Dead (:Husiku Hwakafa) is a 1951 Matobwe  directed by Banga Mariga. It stars Fadzai Garangaga in her debut role as a Matobwe seamstress Katsiru and Simoni Manyuchi as her brother-in-law Panganai. Kambeu Tongofa, Chido Moyo, and Irikidzai Tafara co-star. The plot follows a working-class seamstress in Debanwe who becomes wrapped up in a scheme to cover up a murder. It is very loosely based on the 1935 novel Batsu by Yoritada Nishiōji.

The Night Is Dead premiered on Irwol 18, 1951 in Debanwe, and was released on Samwol 11 in Matobo. Considered one of the greatest films of all time, it grossed $2.1 million in its initial run. The film is credited for kicking off the "bitter film" movement, a genre of highly stylized crime films that follow everyday people dealing with the increasingly bad repercussions of their decisions.

Plot
In late 1940s Debanwe, Katsiru is a seamstress working in a poorly-maintained tailor shop. A conversation with her coworker reveals that her husband, Ruramai, drowned just weeks earlier after jumping into the Kupenya River to save a drowning child. Katsiru returns home that evening to find her former brother-in-law, Panganai, waiting for her. Panganai demands that Katsiru give him a ritual mask that had been passed down from his great-grandfather, but Katsiru refuses, stating it was her husband's most prized possession, and that she wishes to keep it. Panganai leaves furiously.

The next day, Katsiru receives a mysterious phone call from someone claiming to be a friend of her husband. She agrees to meet him at restaurant in south Debanwe, where she is introduced to the caller, Shungudzemwoyo, and two of his personal bodyguards. The man reveals that he is, in fact, a local crime boss to whom Ruramai owned a significant amount of money. Shungudzemwoyo informs Katsiru that she has one month to repay her husband's debts of $10,000, or she will be killed.

Katsiru visits Panganai to ask for assistance, but he refuses to help her, bitter from their confrontation the day before. Katsiru walks to work, but is fired upon her arrival for being late. She takes her sewing needles with her, and returns home. Upon closing her door, Panganai leaps out from a nearby hallway and demands that Katsiru gives him his father's mask. She refuses, and Panganai backhands her. In self-defense, Katsiru stabs Panganai in the eye with her needles, killing him. She quickly gathers her things, including her husband's mask, and flees.

Katsiru takes a bus out of the city and ends up in the town of Chiwa. She rents a room at a local inn, and begins searching for employment. She is approached by Tanaka, a brothel owner, who offers to hire her. She refuses, and sends him away. That evening, Katsiru looks out the window and sees a police officer approaching her hotel room. She flees out a back door, and contacts Tanaka, eager for his protection.

During Katsiru's first day of work, the same police officer enters the brothel. After a verbal altercation, Tanaka is obligated to allow him to see Katsiru. The officer questions her about her brother-in-law's death, but she denies knowing anything. After the officer tells her she is a prime suspect, she flees, screaming that the officer was trying to molest her. The brothel's bodyguards attack him, giving Katsiru an opportunity to escape to her hotel room. She gathers her things and leaves town.

After arriving in a rural village, Katsiru is taken in by an elderly widow, Tatadzeiko, who begins preparing a meal for her. After a few days have passed, there is a knock at the door. Tatadzeiko reveals that there is a man seeking to speak with her. It is revealed that the man at the door is one of Shungudzemwoyo's men, who immediately opens fire, killing Tatadzeiko. Katsiru grabs a kitchen knife and kills the attacker. She once again gathers her things and flees to Zambaliswe, where she takes a job working in a restaurant.

Katsiru, becoming increasingly paranoid, illegally purchases a pistol and takes a room at a hostel. One night, while walking home from work, she is grabbed by a man in an alley. The man is revealed to be her husband Ruramai, thought to be deceased. He informs her that he faked his own death to avoid paying his gambling debts, but after hearing that Shungudzemwoyo was targeting her, he returned to help. Katsiru is furious, but suggests they sell her husband's family mask to pay off the debt. Ruramai hesitantly agrees. Upon arriving at a pawn shop, the clerk states that the mask is worthless--it is a replica, and nothing more. Ruramai reveals that he had sold the real mask years ago to pay a former debt, and never informed anyone. Realizing that this has made her murder of Panganai utterly pointless, Katsiru panics. Ruramai suggests that he and Katsiru have no choice but to murder Shungudzemwoyo if they want to be freed of his debt.

Katsiru and Ruramai return to Debanwe and rent a room at an inn. Ruramai attempts to reconcile with Katsiru, but she refuses to make amends. The next day, the two of them attempt to sneak into a gambling den known to be Shungudzemwoyo's base of operations. They are spotted by one of the crime boss's men, who informs him of their arrival, and they are captured. The henchmen frisk them and remove their weapons, leaving them defenseless. During the meeting, Shungudzemwoyo expresses his pity that Ruramai dragged his wife into this plot, and orders for him to be strangled in front of his wife. Katsiru is taken to the basement and locked in a small room. The film ends as Shungudzemwoyo opens the door the next morning, revealing Katsiru has hanged herself.