Synopsis
Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Maxwell SimbaWilliam Kamkwamba
- Chiwetel EjioforTrywell Kamkwamba
- Aïssa MaïgaAgnes Kamkwamba
- Lily BandaAnnie Kamkwamba
- Joseph MarcellChief Wembe
- Lemogang TsipaMike Kachigunda
- Philbert FalakezaGilbert Wimbe
- Noma DumezweniEdith Sikelo
- Khalani MakunjeDaniel Ngwata
- Robert AgengoJeremiah Kamkwamba
Recommandations
- 80
The Guardian
It’s a conventional film in many ways but one that slowly and effectively builds to a remarkably rousing climax, displaying an act of overwhelming ingenuity that’s hard to deny. - 80
The Guardian
Chiwetel Ejiofor has made his debut as writer-director, and the result is exhilarating and rather inspiring – a story of success against the odds, of ingenuity and resourcefulness, of a father and son painfully coming to terms with each other. - 75
RogerEbert.com
Ejiofor’s movie eloquently harnesses all these customary elements and yields them into an irresistible family film that plays like a brand-new “October Sky” with an urgent human-interest dimension at its heart. - 75
The Playlist
The director resists the urge to make the family too heroic – in fact, his own character takes an unsympathetic turn near the end, which must’ve been a tough call. But it matters, because it renders his deeply-felt joy and pride at the picture’s conclusion all the more potent. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
Made with the intelligence and good taste one expects from Ejiofor, the involving film cares about much more than the sweeping images of triumph with which it inevitably closes. - 70
Screen Daily
This earnest tale succeeds thanks to its potent themes — including the tension between old traditions and new ways of thinking — and Ejiofor locates the story’s emotional underpinnings without succumbing to cheap manipulation or mawkishness. - 67
IndieWire
Ejiofor’s compassionate script, adapted from William’s 2009 memoir, is finely attuned to the cold realities that confront its warm characters. It only struggles to chart a clear arc for its protagonist, who remains a bright and quietly determined kid from start to finish, while his (often sidelined) father is the one who best embodies the film’s conflict. - 63
Slant Magazine
Chiwetel Ejiofor announces himself as a sensitive, shrewdly restrained filmmaker with his quietly assured directorial debut.
