Boesman and Lena

An absorbing (although repetitive and rather didactic) analysis of exploitation and despair in a situation where there is no way forward or up, where the attempts to make yourself feel better by violating and putting down whoever is below you seems to be the only option. But even here, in this desolate wasteland of lost dreams and no future, that does not work, and reaching out to something or someone to comfort and share with, a simple act of charity, gives some reward, even if it just makes the present bearable by reviving memories of the past.

Although there is little actual on screen violence, this is a harsh and brutal film about the small mindedness of oppression (politically and personally) that does not make for easy entertainment. Clearly based on a play, with a small cast, a broader more expansive relation to the general social and political environment would possibly have helped the film to reach a wider audience.

] Haven't seen this film? Haven't even heard of this film? It wouldn't surprise me. One of the few truly "independent" films produced in the last ten years, no studio had faith in the picture and it was never picked up for major distribution. The independent company Kino Films, gave BOESMAN AND LENA a very limited run with virtually no promotion, and the majority of major film critics didn't even bother reviewing it. I guess a movie based on a one act, one set play about the apartheid and its affect on two individuals never really had a chance in today's market - and it's the intelligent film-lover's loss.

For the record, both Angela Bassett and Danny Glover deserved Ocsar nominations (as did the cinematographer) but the film received such little fanfare that I can't even blame the academy on that one. This is a film that is challenging, thought-provoking, and heartbreaking, and it actually requires the audience to meet it on it's own terms. Taking that into consideration, it is definitely not a movie for mindless entertainment. Director John Berry wisely does not attempt to dress-up Athol Fugard's play. Sure, we're given a few fractured flashbacks and some breathtaking scenic shots, but the film version of BOESMAN AND LENA remains, on the whole, a story of two people living in inhumane conditions.

Stripped of their basic human rights, Boesman (Glover) and Lena (Bassett) have no one left to attack but each other. A third character joins them for awhile (Willie Jonah, amazing in a largely silent role), but the film's focus never strays from the title characters and what they've become. Bassett and Glover give brave performances as the broken couple, performances that simply could not be improved upon. Vigorously and brutally stimulating, both intellectually and emotionally, BOESMAN AND LENA deserves to be rediscovered of home video. Hands down, one of the best film of the year 2000.

It's always nice to see Angela Bassett getting to do a role that she can really sink her teeth into. She is at times intense, funny and even sexy in her role as Lena, a "colored" woman forced to make a home on a desolate mudbank just outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Danny Glover is also good in a not entirely sympathetic role as her partner, Boesman. Willie Jonah gives a finely nuanced performance as the stranger that discovers Boesman and Lena's new living area. It's not often that you get a chance to see an intelligent film dealing with mature themes. Although it is based on a play, the late director John Berry (who also directed Claudine) opens the material up by having the film shot in the widescreen Cinemascope format. He also keeps things visually interesting through the creative blocking of actors and by showing us things only mentioned in the play. Just like Diahann Carroll in Claudine, John Berry may have directed Angela Bassett into an Academy Award nomination. This is definitely a film worth searching for.

Baseman and Lena is not a typical Hollywood or American film production. Actually, it more closely resembles Bergman's Wild Strawberries than anything I've seen before, which makes sense because the film's director, John Berry, hails from Hollywood's Golden Age. Berry's style reflects the era of the 40s and 50s— Boesman and Lena was his last film, I believe.

The performances from Angela Basset and Danny Glover were outstanding—far beyond Oscar worthy. The story is rather comprehensive and nuanced, but the setting is mostly stagnant, which would lead some to mislabel the piece as simple and boring. Yes, it was a play originally, but the cast brings an energy and realism to the story that is difficult to put into words. If you appreciate the work of Angela Basset or Danny Glover, I think you would be fascinated with this movie. If you are a student, teacher, professor, or just like learning about post-colonial African history —specifically the socioeconomic disparities of South Africa—then this would be a good film to supplement a research paper or analysis of some kind.

My only word of advice would be to ignore the reviews, including mine. Just as an aside, I went through Loyola Marymount's film school, and was exposed to a bunch of directors who are considered avant-garde and hoity-toity today, such as Fellini, Rossellini, De Sica, Godard, Cacoyannis, Camus, Truffaut, Renoir, Tarkovsky, Eisenstein, Dreyer, Weir, Bergman, Capra, Welles, Ford, Kurosawa, Zhang Yimou, Kaurismaki, Townsend, Mallick, Luis Bunuel, and Spike Lee, to name a few. After all that, I can say that John Berry's Boesman and Lena is on par with all of those film directors work in terms of depth of storytelling, acting, and the level of catharsis the film provided. So I would just encourage you to watch the film with a fresh pair of eyes in the same way you would watch some fancy-pants classic film : )

BOSEMAN AND LENA (2000) **1/2 Danny Glover and Angela Bassett give excellent performances in

this adaptation of Athol Fugard's play about a hard-pressed upon

South African married couple sharing hardships and personal

demons after being ousted to the desert from their shantytown

coming to terms with their desperate (and disparate) situations.

Slow-moving and repetitive but still memorable especially for

Bassett's compassionate turn. The last film by well-respected director John Berry.