Life, Above All

Le secret de Chanda (2010) The South African/German film Le secret de Chanda was shown in the U.S. with the title, Life, Above All (2010). It was co-written and directed by Oliver Schmitz.

The movie stars Khomotso Manyaka as Chanda, a young woman trying to hold her own in a South African township. Her father is dead, her stepfather is feckless, her mother is sick, and she has two half-siblings about whom she worries.

Manyaka is a brilliant actor. Without a superb performance from her, the film could not have been so successful. Her role--and her skill--reminded me of Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone. She's beset on all sides, but she refuses to give up.

Many of Chanda's problems arise from the fact that saving face is more important than almost anything else.

We saw this movie at Rochester's wonderful Dryden Theatre in the George Eastman Museum. It will work well on the small screen as well. It's a great movie-don't miss it!

This is very tender-hearted film and well acted. It grows on you so bare with it, because the characters develop through-out. It took sometime before I felt being pulled into this story, but I am very happy I stayed with it. The film has a very strong feeling of authenticity. It's not trying to swindle you with false emotions; it never sinks into false melodrama.

The theme is of struggle – and the resiliency of women – more particularly a young girl growing up. The struggles are with poverty, AIDS, abandonment, and ignorance. The individuals face their issues with a stoical, but telling emotion. The performances are strong and intense. The ending brings us a soulful resolution.

The world celebrated the end of apartheid in South Africa in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, many of the problems created by the system of institutionalized racism persist to this day. "Le secret de Chanda" ("Life, Above All" in English) gives us an example. The movie reminded me of a book that my fifth grade class read about a pair of black South African children having to travel to Johannesburg during apartheid. Here we see the difficulties faced by the country's black population all these years after the racist laws got repealed.*

Spoken mostly in Northern Sotho and filmed mostly with a handheld camera, this movie tests your attention span. In my opinion, that's an extra incentive to see it. After all, how often do you get to see the day-to-day lives of people anywhere in Africa? It might not give you a full insight into the lives of most South Africans, but it's a start.

*In his autobiography "Born a Crime", Trevor Noah noted that the establishment of apartheid in 1948 merely codified what was already the status quo

I've been quite surprised if the quality of South African films from the latter years, and this is another example of this quality. And a South African film isn't only Dustrict 9 or Vehicle 19, which both were great, but also film like this little gem, based on the novel "Chanda's secrets" by Canadian Allan Stratton, and directed by the German director Oliver Schmitz, which is born in Cape Town, S.A.

Young Chanda, 12, is checking out the funeral for her little sister Sarah, which have suddenly died, getting to know that the money the mother kept has been stolen. Her father is an irresponsible drunk, and she realizes that her friend is selling services as a prostitute to the lorry drivers down town. Chanda begins to understand a lot about how the world functions. We get to see Chanda's poor neighborhood in Elandsdoorn outside of Johannesburg. Her mother turns ill just after, making even more challenges for Chanda, amongst them a lot of rumors and superstition. A superstition that adds deeply to the challenges in such a poor community.

The film was chosen for the "Un certain regard"-program under the Cannes Festival, very deservedly. I haven't read the novel, but I understand the film makes a good job, though having to let out some if the film to make a film out of it. Fine cinematography work, with great use of light focusing, and great job fond by the actors, makes this a very see-worthy film. It depicts the challenges which might occur in every society, but also the ones hitting especially hard in a poor neighborhood.

It's a beak realistically told film, even if it's a fictional tale. Still the film is not without hope. Chanda makes a big difference in her neighborhood, with her heart and sense of getting things right.

(2011) Life, Above All/ Le secret de Chanda (In South Africa with English subtitles) DRAMA

At the first few minutes has 12 year old Chanda (Khomotso Manyaka) picking a coffin for her baby sister. We don't know how she had died, except to say that deaths over there are a common occurrence. She later finds out that her worthless step dad stole money so that he can drink more, intended for the coffin, forcing Chanda to go and take the money back. After burying her baby sister, the movie then dwells on Chanda having to take care of her mother without viewers understanding what she's diagnosed with, with critics I've read, saying that her mother's contacted the aids epidemic. As a result of her mother suffering of something created a rift within her neighbors eager to drive her away. In this movie, we also get to witness, rituals practiced if people can't afford medicine, treatment or proper health care. There's also zero criticism about how it's gov't treats it's own people. Many of the things shown on this movie are absolutely nothing new to anyone who keeps up with the news, since much of what's shown here are usually shown in documentaries and whatnot. Why watch the movie one may ask, it is to say that nothing's still being done about anything and that children should not have to carry this kind of responsibility when it's the governments job.