Weight of the world

Life, Above All

Crit

Not sure when I've encountered such heroism from an adolescent--Huck Finn? Anne Frank? Chadra (an absolutely stunning performance by Khomotso Manyaka) is perhaps closer to Huck, in that she hasn't the scantest clue about her own heroism, as she becomes the de facto head of the family, her mother ill and increasingly frail, her stepfather consistently drunk and missing from the township home. A well-meaning busybody neighbor challenges Chadra for care of her live-wire half-sister and half-brother, but the neighbor, shackled by superstition and fear of social stigma, can't compete with the girl's moral strength, which is also manifest in her loyalty to a friend driven to prostitution (Keaobaka Makanyane, in an equally remarkable performance).

All of this takes place in the context of a country so terrified of an endemic disease that we barely hear its name. This is a killingly painful story, which makes it all the more inspirational.

Trailer

• Restless--I seem to recall a trailer for this earlier that was all it's-great-to-be-young-even-when-you're-nuts-or-terminal, but this one is a lot more sober. Whatever, Van Sant + Wasikowska = a pretty good bet.