Boesman and Lena

A sour film about down-and-out coloured people trying to scrabble an existence in South Africa. When the government bulldozers move in, Boesman and Lena set out on the road. There's little story, beyond the separate reactions of each of them to an old, sick Kaffir who comes to their fire. What it's about is simply the situation of dereliction, of being without homes, roots, dignity. And although there are faults in the film - it still smells heavily of the stage for which it was originally written by Athol Fugard - enough of that feeling still comes through to make it valid.