HIV/AIDS in America has come a long way in only a few decades. Not that long ago, it was an unspoken illness, and now people wear ribbons and talk about living with AIDS, not dying from AIDS. Our privilege, wealth, and access to medicine in America make us forget that not everyone has the same access to health education (including sex education), and people easily get roped in by superstition mixed up with mainstream religions. Life, Above All is an eye-opening look inside a community more afraid of whispered rumors than a lonely, painful death.
Chanda (Khomotso Manyaka) is an ordinary girl in many ways. In school, she is learning to read. She has a best friend Esther (Keaobaka Makanyane). She has a loving mother and two younger half-siblings. In many ways, though, she cannot afford to be young and carefree. Her step-father is a cheating low-life drug addict who steals from her mother to support his habit. At one point, he steals money meant for his child's funeral to go on a bender. Even the people claiming they want to help Chanda's family are not entirely good including Mrs. Tafa (Harriet Lenabe) who lets her fear of rumors cloud her judgment. When Chanda's mother falls ill, Chanda must find the courage to stand by her mother and bring a feared disease out of the shadows and into the light.
Looking at it strictly from a film perspective, Life Above All is nearly perfect. The cinematography is beautiful, and the cast is very good despite being mostly unknowns or relative newcomers to film acting. Harriet Lenabe who plays Mrs. Tafa represents so many of the negative aspects of the community like willful ignorance and a paranoid, judgmental nature, but despite all of her faults, Lenabe makes Mrs. Tafa's actions understandable, if not excusable. Esther is the victim of Mrs. Tafa and the rest of the community's prejudices, and Keaobaka Makanyane plays Esther as far too wise and sad for a girl her age. She is an orphan who knows she has no one in the world looking out for her, and her performance haunted me for days.
Ultimately, though, the film hinges on Chanda, played by newcomer Khomotso Manyaka. Manyaka's Chanda represents a new generation trying to avoid the mistakes of her parents and elders. She is smart and strong-willed, and most importantly, she knows when she shouldn't listen to people like her mother and Mrs. Tafa. One of the best examples of Chanda's character is a scene at the doctor's office. Mrs. Tafa has taken Chanda's mother to a well-known doctor in the area, and after Chanda reads the many “diplomas” on the doctor's wall, she realizes he is trying to rip her mother off with expensive treatments that probably won't even work. When Chanda pushes the doctor on his credentials, Mrs. Tafa rebukes her and says she is being rude. Undeterred, she asks him to read his phony diplomas, and the doctor, afraid of being exposed as a fraud, dropped his fees. Unlike her mother and Mrs. Tafa, Chanda can read, and she doesn't have a problem with going against cultural norms or being perceived as “rude.”
One of the biggest advantages that Life, Above All has over similar projects tackling HIV/AIDS in Africa is having a director who understands South African culture. Oliver Schmitz grew up in South Africa and has previously tackled apartheid in his film Mapantsula, which was banned in South Africa when it was first released, and will be looking at the death penalty in South Africa with his upcoming project adapting the book Shepherds and Butchers. His directing and Dennis Foon's brilliant screenplay bring the audience into the mindset of a South African, and the film shows why treating and stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS in South Africa is much more complicated than handing out pamphlets and condoms. Before any progress can be made, communities need to be able to acknowledge AIDS, say it out loud, and learn to love and accept their HIV-positive family members and neighbors. Until that happens, nothing will change.
What I love about Life, Above All, though, is that it is hopeful. I mentioned that no amount of education or preventative measures will work until a community changes its attitude towards AIDS. This might not seem like a very hopeful message, but Chanda's story proves that one person's bravery and love can affect the people around them. Life, Above All is not a young generation waiting for their elders to die so that change can happen. The message is that there is always hope, even for people who seem set in their ways.
SPECIAL FEATURES
The Blu-ray release includes a making-of featurette.
"Life, Above All" is on sale December 6, 2011 and is rated PG13. Drama, Foreign. Directed by Oliver Schmitz. Written by Dennis Foon. Starring Harriet Lenabe, Keaobaka Makanyane, Khomotso Manyaka.
