No. 51 (2021) HERSELF JUNE 21st.

 

Film No. 51 (2021)  June 21st.  6:30 PM  Cinema 5   LUNA,  Leederville. 

"I have designed a house that costs just thirty five thousand euros to build. You'll need a builder to help you." (The face-time conversation that Sandra has with a designer, which gives her belief in her dream).

Film is such a powerful medium when it comes to highlighting warts that need removing from society. HERSELF is a powerful film telling the story of Sandra, a native Dubliner, who fights to make her bleak world better. Domestic violence (the wart) has made her life a misery. She is the mother of two small girls, displaced and on a waiting list to be housed. Sandra decides it's time she became the mother who controls their destiny.

A film that adopts domestic violence as an underlying theme may repel potential punters. It's repugnant subject matter. HERSELF however, is a story about triumph of the human spirit. Sandra, brilliantly played by Claire Dunn, is charismatic in the lead role. The actress, Claire has endured periods of bullying due to a distinctive birth-mark under her left eye and this, together with the fact she co-wrote the script, gives her a legitimate sense about strength of character. 

Director Phillidia Lloyd (IRON LADY and MAMMA MIA) layers HERSELF with one thought provoking scene after another. Lloyd never wants us to feel sorry for Sandra. She asks us to come along and take this inspiring ride with a young mum with "balls" (the last thing Sandra wants attached to her!).

Sandra presents a proposal to a public servant. The idea would save the city money, have an extra dwelling on their books plus give Sandra and her girls a place to live. The city employee's reaction is cliched but the point is perfectly made. The scenes of camaraderie involving the people who admire and trust Sandra, as they all work to help her literally build her dream, is what HERSELF is all about.

Lloyd and Dunne have plenty to say in HERSELF. They rarely preach their message. HERSELF is less about the ills of domestic violence and so much more about resilience and the power of human kindness. I hope this small film gets big audiences. HERSELF is an example of why film expands our mind, in the same way a gymnasium invigorates the body. 11GUMS.