vision2020
Re: Boesman and Lena Review
Pam Palmer wrote:
> Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
> 508 S. Main Street, Moscow, Idaho 83843
>
> ***You can now call the Kenworthy at 882-4127***
>
> March movies:
>
> Boesman and Lena (see REVIEW below)
> Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17
> (not rated) 90 minutes
> $4 adults/$2 children 12 and under
> 6:30 PM and 8:45 PM
>
> Dancer in the Dark
> Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24
> (rated R) 160 minutes
> Tickets $4 for adults
> 8:00 PM only
>
> The Searchers (John Ford, 1956)
> Wednesday, March 28
> (not rated) 119 minutes
> Sponsored by WSU Philosophy Department
> HOST: Diane Kelly-Riley, Writing Programs (WSU)
> FREE TO ALL WSU and UI STUDENTS!
> Admission without ID: $4
> 7:00 PM only
>
> Chocolat
> March 31 (Saturday only)
> (rated PG13) 121 minutes
> Sponsored by Wild Women Traders
> $4 adults/$2 children 12 and under
> 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM
> * * * * * * * * * * * * *
> REVIEW for this week's movie:
>
> BOESMAN AND LENA (NR)- Excerpted from Film Journal International
> (filmjournal.com)
>
> Athol Fugard's 1970 play comes to the wide screen via the late director John
> Berry. Though imperfect, the work is also challenging and often moving.
>
> KINO INTERNATIONAL/Color-B&W/2.35/Dolby SR & DTS/88 Mins.
>
> Cast: Danny Glover,Angela Bassett, Willie Jonah.
> Credits: Directed by John Berry. Adapted by Berry from the play by Athol
> Fugard.
>
> Athol Fugard's Boesman and Lena takes place during South African apartheid,
> when the white minority owned most of the land. The action starts after an
> unseen landlord evicts a black couple, Boesman (Danny Glover) and Lena
> (Angela Bassett), from their shanty. (The early scenes, including a
> black-and-white opening, seem like part of Dark Days, the recent documentary
> about the homeless.) After traveling many miles, Boesman and Lena set up a
> makeshift dwelling on the picturesque Cape Flats. The distraught Lena tries
> to understand how she has arrived at this point in her life, while the angry
> Boesman merely wants to forget the past. Verbal and physical fights follow
> until a stranger (Willie Jonah), an older black man Boesman calls a kaffir,
> arrives.
>
> Although they speak different languages, Lena tries to tell the
> man the story of her life. Lena also comforts and protects him from
> Boesman's jealous rages. During the night, Lena chooses to sit by the fire
> with the stranger, rather than join Boesman in his bed. But when the man
> dies from exposure, Boesman panics that he will be charged with murder.
> Boesman flees the scene, but Lena decides to stay. The next morning,
> however, Boesman and Lena find each other on the road and try again to
> continue their journey together.
>
> Boesman and Lena never completely escapes its theatrical origins, but as the
> film progresses, it becomes increasingly powerful. Most credit goes to the
> two actors who appear on screen throughout: Glover and Bassett. It takes
> time to adjust to seeing these major stars in such deglamorized roles, but
> eventually they dig deep into the parts and
> bring out the harrowing existential despair of the play. Jonah also deserves
> kudos for his work as the stranger. (His character's appearance with the
> warring couple turns the piece into an echo of Fellini's La Strada.)
>
> Boesman and Lena marks the wistful end title for director John
> Berry, a one-time blacklisted director who felt an affinity for
> African-American themes and who died soon after finishing the shooting. The
> film is not as artistically or politically adventurous as Tamango, Berry's
> 1958 picture about a slave-ship revolt, but the director once again confers
> special privileging to the abused female protagonist. In a break from the
> Fugard text, Berry inserts memory "flashes" from Lena's point of view, and
> he gives Angela Bassett more close-ups and screen time. An especially
> heartrending moment comes when Berry literally depicts Lena's "meeting the
> memory of my old self along the roads," as she puts it.
>
> * * * * * * * * *
> Please e-mail me at ppalmer@moscow.com if you know of someone who wishes to
> receive notice of the movie schedules and other Kenworthy events on a
> regular basis. Thank you!
> * * * * * * * * *
> Sorry about the confusion of last weekend's showing of Delicatessen.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> PAMELA PALMER ppalmer@moscow.com
>
> Events Committee
> Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre
> P.O. Box 8126
> Moscow, ID 83843
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
>
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