Life, Above All

Directed by Oliver Schmitz. Starring Khomotso Manyaka, Lerato Mvelase, Harriet Manamela, Keaobaka Makanyane, Aubrey Poolo Club, QFT, Belfast 102 min

HERE’S A film that only an utter cad could hate.

Based on a young adult novel by Allan Stratton, Life, Above Allbrings traditional cinema skills to the story of a young girl struggling against a host of South Africa's current malaises. Yes, the film is sentimental. True, it paints its protagonist as a juvenile saint. But the central performance from Khomotso Manyaka is so powerful that most objections quickly wither into insignificance.The German/South African co-production begins with Chanda (Manyaka), resident in a poor township, dealing with the recent death of her baby sister. The responsibility for maintaining the household now rests upon her tiny shoulders. A good student, with a forgiving attitude, Chanda refuses to allow the most appalling pressures to dampen her positive mood.

Such an attitude proves useful. Lillian, her mother, has been laid low by illness and her stepfather, a boozer, is of no practical use whatsoever. As mum’s illness worsens, the local townspeople gradually turn nasty. They view the creeping sickness as evidence of some supernatural judgment against Lillian and the clan. Meanwhile, Chanda maintains her friendship with a contemporary who has fallen into prostitution.

When a female bigwig (she lives in a home bedecked with bourgeois ornaments redolent of home-counties bungalows) elects to have Lillian moved from the home, Chanda sets out to get her back and re-establish the precarious family balance.

Should we worry that the degradation is too prettily realised and that the film naively believes love can conquer all prejudices? Probably not. Life, Above Allis more of a cheering fable than a slice of documentary realism. Aimed as much at teenagers as at art-house enthusiasts, the picture has an ordered simplicity – and a hopeful ending – that might have pleased Frank Capra. Moreover,

it is given real grit by that stubbornly resilient turn from Manyaka.

You are hereby defied to resist brandishing a supporting fist at the film’s dramatic conclusion.