From what I remember of La Vie Est Belle, the overarching message of the film is that there is always a silver lining. The film reminded me of the type of Western film that children would like- it had almost a Disney-esque plot in that there were clearly defined issues that needed to be resolved and that all were tied together at the end (a happy end, I might add) in a neat little package. What's different about La Vie Est Belle is that takes place in an area that many of us would associate with sadness, poverty, death and disease. By creating a film that encourages the decidedly African audience that "life is rosy", I think Mwese is trying to uplift the people that watch the film.
The fact that the film is rich with African culture makes me agree with Manthia Diawara's opinion that the film was purposefully incorporating African working-class culture into cinema. I really enjoyed how authentic the film felt and it really helped me to put myself in the situation of the citizens of the village in which the film takes place. It helped me realize that not everyone who is living in Africa in our generation is starving or dying of disease. As Americans, we are conditioned to believe Africa to be a place of desolation and despair when really the opposite is the truth. As is the reality in the United States, there are people throughout the country (or continent, in Africa's case) that are living full, happy lives and unfortunately, there are people who are less forunate as well. I know from seeing commericals on TV and from hearing about celebrities who make mission trips to Africa that I began to believe that everyone in Africa was unhappy and was desperate for Americans (or other well off countries) to come to their aid. From watching Life Is Rosy, I can see that, while Africa is not nearly as wealthy as the U.S., that does not mean that African people cannot be happy. The people in the village, including Kourou, are generally happy. They are aware that they are not the wealthiest people in the world, and as such, they are able to be truly appreciative of everything they have. I think that's a really great outlook to have on life. As Americans, many of us take so many things for granted- having food to eat, a bed to sleep in, and even having clean water to drink. We feel entitled to a lot of things, and we often do not feel appreciative of what we do have. I think if we were able to recognize how well off we are, we would all live happier, fuller lives.
I think you made a good point. We often tend to think about Africa as a very poor country, but sometimes people that have tougher situations can be happier because they know how to make the best out of those situations. Living in a more privileged country, we tend to be focused on the things we don't have instead of the things we do.
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