We Are Together

I went to see We Are Together last week, a film about a children's choir in an orphanage in a South African township. It's an inspiring story, and very moving; the children are mostly AIDS orphans, and the film follows their progress as they overcome all sorts of difficulties, most of which would be unimaginable to Western children.
In the course of the film, Slindile, who turns out to be a wonderful singer, suffers the death of her older brother from AIDS whhich has already carried off her parents. You get to see her sorrow, resignation, but also incredible powers of endurance, as she eventually gets to New York, along with the others from the orphanage, to perform with Paul Simon and Alysha Keys.
It's a feel-good film and has been criticised for it, but I can't see that it's anything but inspirational. We are far too complacent about the little frustrations and hardships that come our way, and although there's not a lot we can do about global poverty and AIDS, its instructive to be reminded of out good fortune, and to know that we can, and must live more frugally and humbly.
Anyway, sermon over - it's an entertaining film, well put together. It was only on for a week in Bristol but the cinema was packed for the late-afternoon showing. Perhaps if the cinema chain had had a bit more faith more people would have seen it - it's the sort of word-of-mouth film that builds an audience a bit more slowly than distributers like, but can pack people in for weeks if they get the chance.