La vie est belle

A simple tale, and a well-rehearsed one perhaps. A young man from the country travels to the 'big city' and tries out his luck making music.

It's lively, colourful, constantly moving and musically enjoyable. The characters tend to border on caricatures (clearly deliberately so), and the overwhelming cheerfulness and optimism of the movie makes for an enjoyable time.

It's not the ideal choice for anyone looking for a profound and revealing account of life in Zaire, it's much too frivolous for that. On the other hand it does provide a revealing sketch of street-life in Kinshasa which viewers from outside Africa may appreciate.

This film is memorable only because you get a chance to see firsthand what the Congo (then Zaire) really looks like. Also, the music is passable. Otherwise, the story is hard to follow, the characters are easy to confuse, and the outcome is ultimately very predictable. But I'm not sorry I saw it, largely because of its documentary-like realism.

Personal choice is sometimes hard to explain, but I have probably watched this film more times over the years than any other (and I've seen a LOT of films). It's certainly not Great Art but it is Great Fun, and it includes some dynamic music from Pepe Kalle and one of the best singers to come out of Congo, if not Africa, Papa Wemba. The story-line is simple - confused identities / poor boy who wants to be rich musician / rich man who wants beautiful girl, who in turn wants the poor man (thinking him to be rich...) etc etc.- but it is told with fluidity and humour, and it offers a great insight to Mobutu's Kinshasa when it was still a functioning and vibrant city. The film is African to the core (despite being co-directed by a Belgian), but its story and humour are universal. Years after initially seeing La Vie Est Belle, I went to live in Kinshasa and one of the first things I did was to seek out the identifiable landmarks shown therein (OK - so there isn't much to do in Kinshasa....). Pride was place was my actually eating in the (now almost derelict) restaurant where Papa Wemba takes Kabibi for a meal - called Lola La Crevette in the Kinshasa suburb of MaCompagne (also now largely derelict). Is the film really worth the 9 out of 10 I have awarded it??? Given the number of times I have watched it with immense pleasure I would say yes, but I imagine 99% of mankind might say no.....

The film I found was very high lighting of the then Congo. The characters were very well played. I gave it a 9 from 10 because there were parts where the story did not match and therefore had a space in the story line.

But this might be only because of the formats I have gotten used to because of watching American cinema, where most things are tied together in a useful way to tell the story.

I am from Canada but have visited Africa several times and this film makes me want to go back.

The film and story line gives you a very good look into Africana life as I have seen there in my travels to the western coast.

The film is very good, and I recommend this film to any who want to see African film at it's best.

Well done!! Thedirector101

An interesting movie but unfortunately a bit too long to keep on fascinating. Still made with great camera work and unforgettable characters, the high level of realism can't help but make one identify with at least one of the persona in this picture's promising cast. It helps to have been in previous contact with the country though to still remain appreciating the down-to-earth life sketches portrayed here. This film is like one of those many overall shown well loved television soaps of two brothers and a girl in Spain or Mexico. To go as far as describing this pic as being racist like some would suggest here is really going too far.