"Yesterday" is a very heartbreaking film. After all, it's about a woman infected with HIV and it's set in a land where the infection rates are about the highest in the world. What's not to be depressed about as you watch this film?! And, not surprisingly, my family did NOT want to watch this film with me. My advice is to watch this film but be sure to have some Kleenex nearby...you'll likely need it.
The film begins with a Zulu woman (Yesterday, played by Leleti Khumalo) walking several hours with her young daughter, Beauty. Yesterday has a persistent cough and she's walking all this distance to see a doctor. Yet, time and again, the lines are too long and she cannot get to see someone. Finally, her friend has seen enough--and she gives Yesterday money to take a bus to the clinic. She soon learns that she's HIV positive--and showing symptoms of AIDS. What's to become of her or her young daughter or her husband who is living and working in Johannesburg*?
Clearly the star of this film is Khumalo--who did a great job in playing Yesterday. She was very realistic and determined--very decent but not ridiculously saintly, either. Also, while he was, at times, reprehensible as a character, Kenneth Khambula was amazing as her husband--showing an amazing range of emotions and playing a person with later stage AIDS quite convincingly. As for the direction, it was superb--with a deliberate but not too slow pace throughout. In fact, although the film was quite depressing, there isn't anything to really complain about here--as the film was brutally honest but still compelling and quite watchable. Because of all this, I am not surprised that it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (losing to "The Sea Inside"). Sadly, however, it's a story that is all too familiar in South Africa because there are many, many women like Yesterday doing what they can to cope with the illness.
*I am no expert on South Africa, though I have been there. Apparently for several generations, it's been common for men around southern Africa to leave their homes and families to work in the mines. Unforutnately, these men often have other wives or girlfriends or prostitutes on the side--leading, in part, to such a HUGE HIV rate (up to about 20% according to many estimates). Other factors, such as some government officials denying that there is a problem haven't helped, either.
The film begins with a Zulu woman (Yesterday, played by Leleti Khumalo) walking several hours with her young daughter, Beauty. Yesterday has a persistent cough and she's walking all this distance to see a doctor. Yet, time and again, the lines are too long and she cannot get to see someone. Finally, her friend has seen enough--and she gives Yesterday money to take a bus to the clinic. She soon learns that she's HIV positive--and showing symptoms of AIDS. What's to become of her or her young daughter or her husband who is living and working in Johannesburg*?
Clearly the star of this film is Khumalo--who did a great job in playing Yesterday. She was very realistic and determined--very decent but not ridiculously saintly, either. Also, while he was, at times, reprehensible as a character, Kenneth Khambula was amazing as her husband--showing an amazing range of emotions and playing a person with later stage AIDS quite convincingly. As for the direction, it was superb--with a deliberate but not too slow pace throughout. In fact, although the film was quite depressing, there isn't anything to really complain about here--as the film was brutally honest but still compelling and quite watchable. Because of all this, I am not surprised that it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Oscar (losing to "The Sea Inside"). Sadly, however, it's a story that is all too familiar in South Africa because there are many, many women like Yesterday doing what they can to cope with the illness.
*I am no expert on South Africa, though I have been there. Apparently for several generations, it's been common for men around southern Africa to leave their homes and families to work in the mines. Unforutnately, these men often have other wives or girlfriends or prostitutes on the side--leading, in part, to such a HUGE HIV rate (up to about 20% according to many estimates). Other factors, such as some government officials denying that there is a problem haven't helped, either.