|
Starring Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Kimberly Elise, Thandie Newton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Beah
Richards, Irma P. Hall, Alber Hall. Directed by Jonathan Demme.
Sethe (Winfrey) lives on a little farm outside of Cincinnati with her daughter Denver (Elise). She is former slave who fled in the dead of night from a plantation in Kentucky called Sweet Home, which was nightmarish, not sweet. Her youngest daughter died years ago, and her two sons left sometime thereafter because their house is haunted by the ghost of the baby. Eighteen years after fleeing, another slave from Sweet Home, Paul D (Glover) arrives at her home after spending the previous time wondering, trying to prevent the law from taking him back. Denver is none too happy with his arrival, and Paul D does become Sethe's lover. They work to become a family. One day, all three arrive back from the carnival and find a young girl seemingly sick and delirious on their front lawn. She's there looking for Sethe, but Sethe has never met her. She drools a lot, speaks with a Linda-Blair-possessed like voice and is quite weird. She says her name is B E L O V E D. Paul D is worried that she'll get in the way and upset their newly formed family, but Sethe feels a need to keep her around. But who is this girl, and where did she come from? Taken from the award winning novel of the same name by Toni Morrison, Winfrey fell in love with the book and bought the rights in 1987. Thought to be unfilmable because of its spiritual nature and complicated structure, Beloved is at times hard to follow for those who have not read the book, which includes me. The book is reported to be written in the style of African literature, where magic, ghosts and dreams are common devices. I am still not sure whether the author meant for Beloved to be a dream of wish fulfillment for Sethe, a metaphor or an actual occurance. The film is elevated by beautiful photography. All the seasons, from summer to winter and back, are represented, with shimmering shots of nature and wildlife throughout the film. There is not much violence shown. Lynchings and beatings are shown only in quick flashbacks, as memories the characters have tried to suppress in order to survive. Beloved deals not with the direct brutality of slavery, but with its lingering effects on the characters years after leaving the slave fields - the lost children and loved ones, the constant worrying about slave owners finding them, and the horrific memories. The performances are the strongest element in the film. After about a minute-and-a-half into the film, you forget its Oprah Winfrey whose on screen, and you start seeing a strong-willed former slave who would do anything to protect family from that life. She projects inner calm and strength - her excellent work in The Color Purple was no fluke. Glover is excellent as usual, projecting decency and optimism in Paul D's quest to get work and create a family. Both Newton and Elise are strong in the roles as the two girls competing for Sethe's interest. Especially good in support is Richards as Sethe's mother-in-law Baby Sukka, an optimistic and wise preacher who strives to build the group of runaway slaves settling the area into a community. Unfortunately, the film is too long, and often plods along at a snail's pace. Twice, there are scenes that appear to be the film's ending, but then it starts up again. And the film doesn't really end, but just sort of fades away. But the overall effect of Beloved is one of sadness at how deeply the characters lives are affected by their pasts, and that one can never fully escape one's past.   
|