Written by: Tiisetso Tlelima
Finally, a local film that’s not about ghetto-fabulous Tsotsis in Hillbrow, the horrors of the days of the swaart gevaar or droning HIV/Aids stories, hits our big screens. And no, it’s not another Oh Shucks! Here Comes Leon Schuster slapstick crap.
Shirley Adams is a heart-warming film about a middle-aged Coloured woman struggling to take care of her recently disabled son, Donovan. Her name is Shirley Adams. She lives in Mitchell’s Plain. She has no money, no job and her husband has left her.
Yes, it’s set against the backdrop of the violence and poverty that has become synonymous with the Cape Flats, but we never really see any violence during the film. For the first time in South African cinema Coloureds are portrayed as ordinary human beings and not as toothless gangsters or rowdy and unruly people. It’s a universal story about love and struggle – one that any mother from anywhere in the world can identify with.
The film stars Denise Newman (Shirley Adams) who brings extraordinary depth to Shirley’s story. She prepared for the role by spending time at the Western Cape Rehab Centre to experience what it would be like to care for someone who is totally dependent on their caregiver.
The film is shot mostly from a large hand-held camera and with Denise’s back to the audience. According to first-time director, Oliver Hermanus, this was done deliberately so that we (the audience) never become comfortable with the subject matter. We follow Denise’s character through her daily routine as she bathes and feeds her emotionally unstable son.
It’s a bit of an art house film and perhaps too dark for South Africans. I couldn’t help overhearing two youngsters saying “It’s boring and mundane” as we walked out of the screening at Atlas Studios. There’s hardly any music in the movie – there are only about four to six music segments which are used cleverly to illustrate the intensity of certain scenes.
Shirley Adams was released on 13 August.
Watch the trailer!
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