La Vie Est Belle Response

In the film “La Vie Est Belle” they repeat the title often as a way of reinforcing it. I assume is has something to do with that fact that although life is not always easy or perfect, you have to stay positive. It seems like the little man was encouraging the people to see the best in the situation they are in even if it’s not ideal. The phrase is used to keep people motivated to not give up on the things they want out of life, but to realize that bad things will happen to. If you choose to see the positives rather than the negatives, you will be much happier in the end.

I found it funny that in the article it says the film maker directly chose a particular actor in order to bring in a large audience. We in the United States do the same thing. We create and ideal character for a movie and pick the best suited actor or actress for the role based on how people react to them. I think the film was pretty clever overall. They created a comedy that touched on numerous topics or situations. I never felt bored because something was always happening. There were affairs, polygamy, witch doctors, and money scandals. It was interesting to see how so many of the characters were connected in various ways to one another. The original wife cheated on the rich man with a poor man. The rich man cheated on his wife with several women and even married one. It is almost beyond outrageous but it makes it fun and interesting. There was romance and drama as well as the comedy. It seemed to be a well-rounded film and I’m sure I could relate it to some US films because of this.

I like the touch of African culture with the witch doctor guy. It was a bit much at times and seemed a bit silly but it suited the location of the filming. I found it interesting to see how much people believed him when he told them to do silly rituals and good things would come of it. They were desperate to get whatever they desired.

On another note I loved the cultural outfits they worse. The women were dressed so colorfully and had head wraps or large jewelry. I thought it was neat how they tied it in to show that it was still a traditional African film to some extent. They used African music and I thought it was repetitive. All the songs sound the same but that could be a cultural thing. To Africans the songs in the movie have meaning, but to me it was just babbling and the same basic music over and over. They also kept the film traditional by showing the less expensive homes along with the rich people homes. It makes it relatable to all people watching the film. Overall, I enjoyed this film much more than the other African films.