gordonroad-62850
In some ways it was great to see how true the film was to the source material, often capturing the powerful emotions and the horrific effects slavery can have on African-Americans at the time. However, because it is so faithful it makes the film almost 3 hours long so it does drag at points.Thandie Newton's portrayal of Beloved is rightly weird and disturbing, whilst Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover were very convincing for me as Sethe and Paul D respectively. The main issue with the film is that knowledge of the book is almost essential going in, as I can see how it may be difficult to grasp exactly what is going on in the narrative without that prior information. Other than that I feel it truly captures the essence of Morrison's novel and can be very thought-provoking at times.
evanston_dad
A painfully misguided attempt at adapting the soaringly beautiful Toni Morrison novel to the screen.Oprah Winfrey was death to this movie. I remember her promoting it like it was medicine, something everyone should see because it would be good for them. And her ridiculous stories about channeling her slave ancestors while playing the character of Sethe were embarrassing, given the mediocre performance she delivers. Her slave ancestors must be rolling in their graves.Director Jonathan Demme and company seem to completely miss the point of Morrison's novel, which was that African-Americans need to move past the atrocities of their heritage if they are ever to grow as a people. Instead, the movie focuses on pain, anger and resentment, and leaves one just feeling downright bad.Grade: D
lisasilicio
I have watched this movie for many years being my absolute favorite..this year i half way watched it with my grandson(mixed) he is only 4 and i tried to explain to him a lot of things he asked me . because it is M.L.K. Jr. holiday I did the best i could considering his age. but he took it in. I doubt he understood. but a start. Anyway I must say I started watching this movie I love so much but all of a sudden it became a struggle I did not want to watch it but I was unable to turn it off.I was glad no one was here I cried such a hard cry from inside when I watched some parts I have never exp. before. The hurt I felt was so raw I cannot explain.as many times as I have watched this movie I tremble at the social injustice that I will never even being well European and knowing what name calling is about. but not so submerged as as African Americans. to feel the horror that I felt watching your movie this year.The stupidity. I fear , my grandson. he sees black rappers his father (escort operator) Of white women. he says he does not like black people. because he only sees negative images. I need him to embrace what he is . but how, who can help me. he is very intelligent.thank you too long Lisa
Mr_Ectoplasma
When I logged onto IMDb and came to the "Beloved" page (after finishing watching the film), I was extremely surprised at the average 5.4 user rating that this film had. 5.4, are you kidding me? I went in seeing this film without ever reading (or having any knowledge of) the award-winning novel that the film is apparently very tightly based upon. Even without that, this film was amazing. The movie begins with a woman named Sethe (Oprah Winfrey), a former slave living in 1800s Cincinatti, where an unseen presence is tearing apart her house, throwing things against the walls, and injuring her dog. Her two sons ultimately run away, terrified of the house, and her youngest daughter, Denver is forced to stay. Cut to eight years later, a friend of Sethe's, Paul D. (Danny Glover) reenters her life and moves in with Sethe. "We got a ghost here", Denver tells him, and Paul D. mentions feeling an evil presence in her house, but Sethe tells him it's "only sadness". Then later on, a mysterious young woman who calls herself "Beloved" is found standing in the front yard of the house. She can barely speak, can't move, and is almost like an infant in the body of a teenager. But who is she, where did she come from, and why is she there? Sethe's dark past holds the secret to Beloved's identity, which is revealed later on in the film."Beloved" isn't a horror film, and I wasn't expecting one either. Granted, there are a few disturbing scenes (and a handful of rather scary moments), but this film is a drama more than anything and really focuses more on it's characters. The story itself is an interesting one at that, and after seeing this I'm tempted to go read the novel (which I hear the film is adapted to very closely). Everything in the film seems to be put together very nicely, and (unlike many people who claim to not be able to follow the story) I followed it very easily. There are some harsh themes that are a consistent part of the plot (mainly Sethe's horrible past as an abused slave) and there are some scenes that are truly hard to watch. While the supernatural element is a main theme in the movie, this isn't your average ghost story. It's not horrific or in-your-face, it's a much lighter and touching. I don't want to go too in-depth into the plot, because there are things that I could easily spoil and wouldn't want to - see the film for yourself. Character development is rampant in the film, and each of the characters mature in a different way throughout the course of the movie, and makes for some very interesting viewing as each of them grow in different ways.Performances are amazing from everyone involved. I'd never seen Oprah Winfrey act, I'd just seen her television talk-show a few times, but she proves in this film that she can (and very well too). Danny Glover also gives a very nice performance but it's overshadowed by the rest of the cast. Thandie Newton plays Beloved, and plays it perfectly - her character is mysterious and obscure, and she does it well. Kimberly Elise plays Sethe's daughter, Denver, and plays the character excellently. I can't say anything bad about the acting in any aspects - to sum it up as a whole, the acting here is just flat-out amazing. Along with the wonderful acting, the directing is great also. Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme (who also directed the award winning crime-suspense masterpiece "The Silence of the Lambs") handles the story well and keeps things consistently absorbing and ultimately haunting. Very nice cinematography is present too, and there are tons of symbolic images throughout the film that are placed nicely in the mix, along with a lot of shots of nature and wildlife.Overall, "Beloved" is an amazing movie, and the people who are rating this as a '1/10' must have not seen very many movies, because this film is so far from a '1' that it's not even funny. Don't let the average user rating scare you off from this film, because it really deserves much better than that. I guess this is one of those "love it or hate it" movies, but I thought it was an unforgettable movie. 10/10.
