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This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection Movie Review

This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection is a 2019 Mosotho drama film directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese and starring Mary Twala Mhlongo. It is an incredible arthouse picture.

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“Every time I say the word “progress”,

my tongue literally rolls backwards“

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When the people of her village are forced to relocate in order to facilitate the construction of a dam, an 80-year-old woman prepares the villagers for protest. Lesotho is an entirely enclaved country within South Africa, and as such, it is not particularly well known, so it was such a pleasant surprise to see that they produced a feature movie, and not just any movie, but one of the better African films released in recent memory.

When the term arthouse is mentioned, most people have an immediately bad reaction. It reminds them of pretentious, boring movies that are about nothing and are almost impossible to enjoy by wider audiences. This is not such a film. This movie gives arthouse cinema a good name as it’s not only deeply empathetic, but also genuinely engaging.

Life mirrors art sometimes, which was the case with Mary Twala Mhlongo, a South African actress who died in real life after this movie’s completion. This fact gives an even deeper meaning to a film that is all about death and the importance of honoring the dead and celebrating their lives.

Her performance is a towering achievement in a film that otherwise lacked memorable personalities as it is almost exclusively concerned with Mantoa’s journey for better and for worse. But her acting elevated the role that was already very well written as this woman is both highly sympathetic and admirably dignified in spite of bad circumstances surrounding her.

This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection also deals with the painful consequences of excessive capitalism, especially as it relates to building infrastructure. It was very touching following the protagonist as she fought to protect her village and her people. The importance of tradition was very strongly emphasized here.

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The film is beautifully directed and superbly scripted. The script is minimalist, but the dialogue is not as it’s rather extensive and mostly positively so. There are many conversations here that deeply moved me. The film’s heart is really in the right place. It’s not as involving in the first half, but the second half is wonderfully paced and immensely memorable. The cinematography is gorgeous as it effortlessly captures the striking imagery of this intriguing country.