Yesterday

Best known for his 1995 drama Cry, the Beloved Country, director Darrell James Roodt returns to his native South Africa for this moving and heartfelt Oscar-nominated drama about a young, devoted mother named Yesterday (played by Leleti Khumalo, from Hotel Rwanda) who learns that she is HIV-positive, and is determined to stay alive until her young daughter Beauty (Lihle Mvelase) is old enough to go off to school. Her husband (Kenneth Kambule) is also stricken with AIDS, and Yesterday cares for him even as they are ostracized by fearful neighbors in their tiny Zulu village. One might expect a film about AIDS to be terribly depressing, and it's true that Roodt pulls no punches, but the film is also beautiful, in terms both of its physical and spiritual landscapes (it was filmed in the expansive KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa). Khumalo's performance lights up the screen, even (and perhaps especially) during Yesterday's darkest hours, putting a human face on a global crisis that's too often viewed in impersonal terms. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Darrell James Roodt, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a fine film.] (J. Shannon)