Beloved (film)
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| Beloved | |
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| Directed by | Jonathan Demme |
| Produced by | Edward Saxon Jonathan Demme Gary Goetzman Oprah Winfrey Kate Forte |
| Screenplay by | Akosua Busia Richard LaGravenese Adam Brooks |
| Based on | Beloved by Toni Morrison |
| Starring | Oprah Winfrey Danny Glover Thandie Newton Kimberly Elise |
| Music by | Rachel Portman |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Studio | Harpo Films Clinica Estetico |
| Distributed by | Touchstone Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 16, 1998 |
| Running time | 172 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80 million[1] |
| Box office | $22,852,487 |
Beloved is a 1998 film based on Toni Morrison's 1987 novel of the same name. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The film stars Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.
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[edit] Plot
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This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (March 2010) |
The story, set shortly after the Civil War, revolves around Sethe, a former slave living on the outskirts of Cincinnati. When the film begins, an angry poltergeist terrorizes Sethe and her three children. After Sethe temporarily soothes the angry spirit, her two sons run away forever.
Ten years later, Sethe (Oprah Winfrey), lives alone with her daughter Denver (Kimberly Elise). Paul D (Danny Glover), an old friend from Sweet Home, the plantation Sethe had escaped from years earlier, finds Sethe's home. She invites him into the house where he drives off the angry spirit. Afterwards, Paul D. then proposes that he should stay and Sethe responds favorably.
Shortly after Paul D. moves in, a clean young woman (Thandie Newton) stumbles into Sethe's yard. Sethe and Denver take an immediate liking to the stranger, who spells her name out as – Beloved.
Denver is happy to have Beloved around and spends many hours playing and talking with her. One night, Beloved reveals her otherworldly origins. Denver, realizing the importance of Beloved's confession, asks Beloved never to reveal her true identity to Sethe. Beloved angrily claims that she came to see only Sethe, and Denver can never to tell her what to do. Beloved quickly apologizes to Denver, however, and the two women quickly amend.
When Beloved sensed that Paul D. dislikes her, she casts a spell that immobilizes him and proceeds to sexually assault him. Paul D. resolves to tell Sethe what happened, only to instead tell what has transpired to a co-worker, Stamp Paid (Albert Hall). Stamp Paid, who has known Sethe for many years, pulls a newspaper clipping featuring Sethe and tells her story to the illiterate Paul D.
During a flashback, Sethe ran away from Sweet Home after a particularly brutal beating. When Sethe was sexually assaulted by the nephews of Schoolteacher, the owner of Sweet Home, she complained to Mrs. Garner, Schoolteacher's sister-in-law. Mrs Garner confronted him and in retaliation, Schoolteacher ordered his nephews to whip Sethe. Heavily pregnant with her fourth child, Sethe planned to escape. Her other children were sent off earlier to live with Baby Suggs, Sethe's mother-in-law, but Sethe stayed behind to look for her husband, Halle. Sethe was assaulted when she went into the barn to search for him; Schoolteacher's nephews held her down, raped her and forcibly took her breast milk.
When Halle failed to comply, Sethe ran off alone. She crossed paths with Amy Denver, a white girl who treated Sethe's injuries and delivered Sethe's child, whom Sethe named Denver after Amy. On a river bank, Stamp Paid delivered her to Baby Suggs' house. Although she was dismayed by her husband absence, Sethe was overjoyed to be reunited with her children. However, her happiness was short-lived when Schoolteacher came to claim Sethe and her children. In desperation, Sethe decapitated her older daughter and tried to kill her other children. Stamp Paid managed to save her other children and Sethe is then taken away by Schoolteacher.
Paul D., horrified by the revelation and suddenly understanding the origin of the poltergeist, confronts Sethe. Sethe unapologetically justifies her decision, claiming that her children would be better off dead than enslaved. Paul D. departs shortly thereafter in protest.
After Paul D.'s departure, Sethe hears Beloved humming a tune that only Sethe and her children knew. When Beloved reveals a scar running along her neck. Sethe realizes that Beloved is the reincarnation of her dead daughter. Feeling elated yet guilt, Sethe spoils Beloved with elaborate gifts while neglecting Denver. Beloved soon develops a destructive tantrum and her malevolent presence causes living conditions in the house to deteriorate. The women live in squalor and Sethe is unable to work. Denver becomes depressed yet, inspired by a memory of her grandmother's confidence in her, she eventually musters the courage to leave the house and seek employment.
After Denver gets a job, her new co-worker arranges to have women from the local church visit Sethe's house and comfort the family. Once, the women arrive and loudly sing and pray while Denver's new employee simultaneously arrives to pick her up for work. Sethe sees him and, reminded of Schoolteacher arrival, tries to attack him with an icepick. She is subdued by Denver and the women. During the commotion, Beloved disappears completely and Sethe, freed from Beloved's grip, becomes permanently bedridden.
Some months later, Paul D. encounters Denver at the marketplace. He notices she has transformed into a confident and mature young woman. When Paul D. later arrives at Sethe's house, he finds her suffering from a deep malaise. He assures Sethe that he and Denver will now take care of her. Sethe tells him that she doesn't see the point, as Beloved, her "best thing", is gone. Paul D. disagrees, telling Sethe that she herself is her own best thing.
[edit] Cast
- Oprah Winfrey as Sethe
- Danny Glover as Paul D.
- Thandie Newton as Beloved
- Kimberly Elise as Denver
- Beah Richards as Baby Suggs
- Lisa Gay Hamilton as Younger Sethe
- Harry Northup as Sheriff
[edit] Production
Oprah Winfrey bought the rights to Toni Morrison's novel in 1987, even before it won the Pulitzer Prize. It took her ten years to bring the novel to the screen.
During promotion of the film, Thandie Newton said to Vogue magazine, "Here we were working on this project with the heavy underbelly of political and social realism, and she managed to lighten things up ... I've worked with a lot of good actors, and I know Oprah hasn't made many films. I was stunned. She's a very strong technical actress and it's because she's so smart. She's acute. She's got a mind like a razor blade."[2]
[edit] Response
Critical reception was mixed to positive, with a 77% "fresh" rating on RottenTomatoes.[3] The film, however, was a failure at the box office and could not come close to surpassing its $80 million budget. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com and TheNumbers.com, the movie grossed only $8,165,551 on its opening weekend,[4] ranking #5 and being beat out by the horror movie Bride of Chucky which ranked #2 and grossed approx $11,830,855 the same weekend.[4] Winfrey has gone on public record stating that she ate 30 pounds of Mac and cheese when she was informed the Saturday after the movie opened that "we got beat by something called Chucky. "[5] Oprah also claimed that Beloved's failure at the box office was the worst moment in her career and brought her into a major depression.[5] "It was the only time in my life that I was ever depressed, and I recognised that I (was) depressed because I've done enough shows (on the topic). 'Oh, this is what people must feel like who are depressed.'"[5]
Director Jonathan Demme has commented, "Beloved only played in theaters for four weeks. It made $22 million dollars -- I think that's a lot of money. And the only reason it left theaters after a month was because the Disney corporation that released the picture wanted all the Beloved theaters -- where we were doing very well, in a number of situations. The Walt Disney company wanted those theaters for Adam Sandler's Waterboy. So, we were told that they were gonna bring us back at the end of the year, and they didn't. But, very respectfully, it was in the top 10 its whole life."[6] However, according to the box office data on TheNumbers.com, Demme's claims that Beloved "was in the top ten its whole life" and "only played in the theater for four weeks" were false, as it rapidly fell below the top 10 after its third week in theaters[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] and remained in theaters past December 1998.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]
[edit] Awards and honors
- Academy Awards
- Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood (Nominated)
- Chicago Film Critics
- Most Promising Actress: Kimberly Elise (Winner)
- Best Supporting Actress: Kimberly Elise (Nominated)
- Best Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto (Nominated)
- Image Awards
- Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture: Danny Glover (Winner)
- Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture: Oprah Winfrey (Nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Beah Richards (Nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Kimberly Elise (Nominated)
- Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture: Thandie Newton (Nominated)
- Outstanding Motion Picture: (Nominated)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=beloved.htm
- ^ (Vogue October 1998)
- ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1057370-beloved/
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981016.php
- ^ a b c http://cnn.com/video/?/video/bestoftv/2011/01/12/exp.Piers.Oprah.Biggest.Failure.cnn
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oK6vM8dZJyg
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981106.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981113.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981120.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981127.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981204.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981211.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981218.php
- ^ a b http://www.the-numbers.com/charts/weekly/1998/19981225.php
[edit] External links
- Beloved at the Internet Movie Database
- Beloved at the TCM Movie Database
- Beloved at AllRovi
- Beloved (film) at Rotten Tomatoes
- Roger Ebert's movie review
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