Yesterday
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Movie Reviews of Yesterday
Movie Review: deeply moving and memorable
Summary: 5 Stars
Yesterday is a heartrending portrait of a very brave South African woman who, after falling ill, learns that she is HIV positive--and that her prognosis is poor to say the least. While this is not a film for the faint at heart, it's a rare look at how AIDS affects people in rural African communities. The acting is very convincing; the casting could not have been done any better. The cinematography is especially memorable as this film was shot in Africa; the scenic landscapes and that long opening shot of the African desert stand out and even drive home the desolation the principle characters feel during the movie. The choreography works best in crowd scenes but the scenes at the village water well are also very well choreographed. The plot held my attention every step of the way and at the end I was very deeply moved.
When the film begins we quickly meet a young South African woman named Yesterday (Leleti Khumalo) and her daughter Beauty (Lihle Mvelase) as they make the long walk to a medical clinic far from their village. Unfortunately, when they arrive they are turned away--they have come too late for the clinic's only doctor to be able to see them; and this happens again the following week. However, Yesterday has a bit of good luck; she befriends a newcomer to the village who is a warmhearted schoolteacher (Harriet Lenabe). The teacher sees that Yesterday has difficulty just getting to the other village in time to make the doctor so she pays the five rand for Yesterday to take a taxi to the clinic. Once at the clinic, Yesterday becomes alarmed when the doctor (Camilla Walker) wants to draw blood for testing. Things only worsen; when Yesterday returns the following week for her blood test results she learns that she is HIV positive and that she will surely die because there just isn't enough medicine for the clinic to save lives.
And it gets even bleaker, although Yesterday bravely puts on a smile for the sake of keeping her daughter Beauty in good spirits. Yesterday must now tell her husband John (Kenneth Khambula), who works in a mine in Johannesburg, that she is HIV positive and that he must get tested for the virus, too. When Yesterday tells John, he becomes enraged at the very thought of all this and he viciously beats up Yesterday while the supervisor simply sits there and does nothing to stop it.
Of course, from here the plot can go anywhere. How long with Yesterday live? She wants to survive at least until her child Beauty starts school. Will her husband John also be HIV positive? Will Beauty need to get tested as well? What happens if the villagers ostracize the family? Who will look after Beauty when Yesterday has passed on? Watch and find out.
Yesterday is one of those rare movies that you watch knowing that you're seeing a very high quality film from start to finish. These actors gave everything they had to make their performances shine; and it shows. This is a remarkably poignant drama that should stir emotions in anyone who has a heart. In addition, I highly recommend this film for people interested in human rights and the fight against AIDS.
Movie Review: wow, what a movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I've seen my share of powerful and moving films, but this is certainly one of the very best. A woman in Africa who's infected with HIV has to find the strength to wake up every single day and take care of her daughter. The emotions this film has is on a whole other level. First of all, it's true you have to read the English text on the bottom of the screen for the entire length of the movie, and honestly, I think this may be the first time I've actually done that (usually when the characters in a film aren't speaking in English, I turn it over). I simply COULD NOT turn away from the amazing twists and turns of this storyline, and watching the problems this poor woman had to go through. I liked how she kept repeating "I'm not angry about anything" throughout the film, while other people in the village were basically questioning "How can that be possible".
She was certainly a courageous woman- she had to work hard for her daughter and her husband who was working far away from where they live because the family was so poor, along with the entire village. There was some very interesting moments when the woman went to find her husband, and talk to him about the HIV virus. Some rather shocking things, to be honest.
What the woman does at the end of the film for her husband is amazing, and I won't spoil it for anyone. It's amazing that she'd be willing to do that after what has happened, but her belief in supporting her husband and daughter was very powerful and important to her on a personal level. And the whole time she remained grateful for so many things, even during all the bad times, and the times where she couldn't afford things, and during all the times she had to wait for the doctor only for the doctor to be busy and not want to see her until the next week.
A must watch.
Movie Review: A Hauntingly Beautiful Film From South Africa
Summary: 5 Stars
YESTERDAY is a film that settles into your heart to remind us how treasureable life is. Few films made with such utter simplicity of focus have addressed a world crisis issue in the form of one couple than this and for that reason alone this film should be widely seen. But there are many other reasons to pay attention to this South African movie.
Yesterday (Leleti Khumalo) is an eloquently beautiful Zulu woman who discovers she has been infected with HIV from her coalminer husband (Kenneth Khambula). She confronts him with that fact and his response is embarrassed rage and physical abuse. Yesterday is concerned that her daughter live to attend school and have a chance at a better life. She is befriended by the school teacher (Harriet Lenabe) and by the doctor in whom she confides (Camilla Walker). Growing ill from AIDS, Yesterday's husband returns home and seeks Yesterday's succor and forgiveness on his deathbed. The power of Yesterday's spirit only grows stronger with every sad reality of her life: she is determined to stay alive until her daughter is safely in school and the future that transition promises.
Each of these actors provide astonishing performances, so delicately nuanced that they are able to pry open the heart. The majestically beautiful scenery of South Africa, with its mist-clothed mountains and far reaching stretches of horizons, plays an important role in this story: nature remains the guardian of mortals. Director and writer Darrell Roodt has a little masterpiece of a film here and one that deserves all of our attention. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, November 05
Movie Review: Where Does the River Go?
Summary: 5 Stars
"Where does the river go?" the small daughter asks her mother as they wash clothes on the special washing stones at the river.
"To the sea. It comes from the mountains," she replies, "and it cannot run backwards." Thus runs a paraphrased passage of dialogue from "Yesterday."
This powerful film of compassion and communtity is directed by Darrell James Roodt, best known for his film "Cry the Beloved Country," a stunning film based on the literary classic of South African life by the same name. His film "Yesterday" was nominated for many awards in 2004, the year of its release: best foregn language film for the Academy Awards; the Official Selection of such prestigious film festivals as the Toronto International film festival,and London Film Festival. In 2005, "Yesterday" was the Independent Spirit Awards Best Foreign Film nominee. But it was the Human Rights Film Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 where it scooped up the prize.
But, back to that river. "Yesterday" shows the river of love, harsh and true. All types of love: mother-daughter; communal; professional; the reinstatement and deepening of a marriage at the end of life, and a vast landscape holding its humans. "Yesterday" shows the river of time. No, it cannot run backwards. Only to the sea.
--Janet Grace Riehl, author Sightlines: A Poet's Diary
Movie Review: Izolo
Summary: 5 Stars
Set in South Africa, Yesterday is a beautiful and quiet little film about Yesterday, a wife, mother, friend and HIV infected woman.
Her response to the cards life has dealt her is the strength of Yesterday and the strength of the movie. She never allows herself to be a victim but is the overcomer. She choses to live and not merely resign herself to fate. I'm glad the movie was filmed in its native zulu and not in english. We see the intimate soul of the movie flow that way. English would have hampered that flow.
The landscape is harshly beautiful and unrelenting. the villagers are unforgiving and ignorant. Each character has an important part to play. Each name, each nuance each gesture each action isnt to be taken for granted. There's a lesson to be learned , each scene is as important as the next and when the credits roll, you know this movie wasn't made for the sake of movie making, it was a lesson in courage, forgiveness, love of the triumph of the human spirit, of friendship . It's a film about the choices we make daily.
And Leleti Khumalo who practically carries this movie through singlehandedly is powerful