Fresh off Doris Lessing’s short story compilation “This Was the Old Chief's Country”, I was on the lookout for a feel-good movie based in Africa. Yes, I happen to be very specific in my needs.
Africa United felt like a good choice. This 2010 road trip movie is a British production. The premise is – a bunch of scrappy kids travel over 3000 miles to the World Cup ceremony in South Africa, by themselves. Obviously they don’t take a flight and have a heap of adventures along the way, not all very pleasant. Since it was promoted a fun watch for the family, The Mater and I settled down expectantly before the screen.
Fabrice is a 13 year old Rwandan football prodigy who catches the eye of a talent scout. The scout is looking for talented youngsters to participate in a ceremony at the Football World Cup to showcase the spirit of the African youth and he is confident that Fabrice will get through the tryouts. Fabrice’s parents aren’t in the know and would rather have their son focus on his studies. So Fabrice’s friend and self-appointed ‘manager’ Dudu steps in to save the day. Orphaned Dudu is a spunky, confident youngster who has grown up the hard way and lives alone with his little sister Beatrice.
The trio set out for Kigali, for the tryouts, but ends up in the Republic of Congo instead. They miss the tryouts but decide to travel the 3000 miles to Johannesburg for the World Cup ceremony. Along the way they are joined by child soldier George and exploited teenager Celeste.
There is also a weird, animated side track to illustrate the story Dudu is narrating about gathering ingredients to make a football. The Mater found this side track especially annoying.
Clearly the theme is to depict the indomitable spirit of its youth despite the constant struggle they face as they battle the scars left by the continuous exploitation of the continent. On paper it is a great story but as a movie it simply doesn’t work. It is neither funny nor hard-hitting nor a gripping blend of both. The movie may be unsettling for children, of little interest to teenagers and a little too simplistic for adults.
Good performances by the children playing Dudu, George and Fabrice. Production values are sound.
Watch to get some very broad insights into contemporary Africa.
