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Beloved (1998)
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by Walt Disney Video
Sales Rank: 8116
Price: $9.99
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This layered film, a labor of love from director Jonathan Demme and star Oprah Winfrey, covers a lot of turf in its nearly three-hour running time. Part slavery fable, part mother-daughter tale, part ghost story, <I>Beloved</I> demands an audience's full attention from its dramatic, slightly bewildering opening, when a family dog comes down on the wrong side of some angry, unseen force. But Demme and his talented cast provide an unforgettable payoff for those who surrender. <p> The film traces the life of Sethe (played in her middle years by Winfrey), a former slave who has rebuilt what seems to be a peaceful, productive life in Ohio. Yet through chilling, sparing use of flashback, Demme slowly unveils, as does the Toni Morrison masterpiece on which the film is based, the horrors of Sethe's former life, and the terrible event that led to the haunting of Sethe's home. <p> While the horrors of slavery and the bloody event in Sethe's family leave undeniable impressions, the film's brilliance is also evidenced in smaller, equally satisfying ways. Rachel Portman's spiritual-influenced score is as uplifting as it is haunting, and the glimpses of the post-slavery African American world--as with a simple family outing to a local carnival, or a ladies' sewing-and-gospel circle--make this a treat for the intellect as well as the heart. The members of the cast, especially Kimberly Elise as Sethe's struggling daughter and Thandie Newton as the mysterious title character, are supremely affecting. <I>--Anne Hurley</I>
Viewer Reviews
Tell me what you think of this plot: A child comes back to life to confront the mother who cut her throat, only she is a grown woman, but still talks like a child. Meanwhile this so-called ghost manages to seduce her mother's "boyfriend" who has come back after 18 years. The ghost manages to get pregnant by him. Then the "ghost", totally naked and pregnant is brought out on the front porch by her mother and disappears in a couple of minutes when a group of church ladies start chanting and singing spiritual songs from the road in front of the house. Then the mother goes into depression for having lost the child that has come back to her and her other daughter goes to work for rich white folks to support herself and her mother. That's Beloved in a nutshell. And let's not forget another ghost that you don't see at all; just her poltergeist activity, except you do see that ghost in the flesh near the end of the movie (and in flashbacks to a prior time). And people think this is a great movie? It's a very strange movie and I couldn't tell what the message was supposed to be, if there even was one. The one redeeming thing about the movie is the period costumes and scenery, which is very beautifully done. It takes place in the 1800's and you certainly do feel that you have been taken back in time.
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Beloved (1998)
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