Boesman & Lena

Released Nov 3, 2000

1 hr. 30 min.

Drama

List

50%

14 Reviews

Tomatometer

55%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Carrying bottles, pots, wire, twigs around their shoulders and a few pieces of clothing, Boesman and Lena are forced to roam dusty clay roadways in search of shelter and a better existence. Driven from their shanty once again by the white man, they walk the South African Cape Flats, a place they've been many times before, in a life they've been forced to live before. A stranger appears and transforms the lives of this desperate couple who find their state basically the same, yet changed.

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Audience Member

The play that this film is based off of has got to be something special. There is obviously a ton of significant commentary here, and the actors seem quite capable, but this film seems to forget that it's a film and not a stage play. Simply putting a camera on a stage script doesn't make a good film. The few sequences done in the film that can't be done on a stage (the flashbacks) are forced and out of place.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I hate to rate a movie so low when both stars are so obviously talented, and when the film has so much to say. Still, possibly the dullest film I've seen in 10 years.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This reminds me off a play called "Waiting for Godot" because it seems like this two also are waiting for something that never will come. This is also about two hobos. A man and a woman is force from their house and they walk to they come to a place that looks like they can spend a night or two. They are stuck with either and don`t even seemed like either. The fight like all the time and she remembers a time then all was good. A man comes by that don`t speak the same language. The woman makes him stay because she really want someone else to talk too. It takes place somewere in Africa. Don`t really like this movie because i didn`t get it. But the actors were very good.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Someone bought this for me, and as much as I tried, I couldn't get interested in it at all.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Glover draws upon all of his acting experience, and also his role as Mandela, to provide an outstanding performance. This is wonderful, uplifiting and very sad.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

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John Berry

Director

Danny Glover

Boesman

Angela Bassett

Lena

Willie Jonah

Old Man

John Berry

Writer

Athol Fugard

Writer

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Lisa Schwarzbaum

Entertainment Weekly

Rated: B

Sep 7, 2011

Full Review

Globe and Mail

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 19, 2002

Full Review

David Parkinson

Empire Magazine

Rated: 2/5

Apr 30, 2001

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 2/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

John Berry's last film, before he passed away, contains moving performances from Angela Bassett and Danny Glover.

Rated: 4/5

Nov 21, 2005

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jun 18, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

Carrying bottles, pots, wire, twigs around their shoulders and a few pieces of clothing, Boesman and Lena are forced to roam dusty clay roadways in search of shelter and a better existence. Driven from their shanty once again by the white man, they walk the South African Cape Flats, a place they've been many times before, in a life they've been forced to live before. A stranger appears and transforms the lives of this desperate couple who find their state basically the same, yet changed.

Director: John Berry
Screenwriter: John Berry, Athol Fugard
Distributor: Pathé Films, Kino Pictures
Production Co: Pathe Image, Primedia Productions
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 3, 2000, Original
Release Date (DVD): Jun 11, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA): $32.1K
Sound Mix: Surround