Beloved | | Cast : | Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover | | Director : | Jonathan Demme | | Studio : | Touchstone Video | | Format : | Color, Widescreen, Closed-captioned | | Released Date : | October 16, 1998 | | DVD Released Date : | January 14, 2003 | | Language : | French (Dubbed), English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 21, 2005 | | Summary | The Worst Movie of All Time -- HANDS DOWN! | Content
 | I am not kidding! How this movie was rated 4 stars by reviewers I'll never know. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect that. But I'll give you the quick scoop from my point of view.
I am an avid moviegoer and love a wide variety of genres. I enjoy dramatic movies like "Shawshank Redemption" and "Cinderella Man"; artistic movies such as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", "The Virgin Suicides", and "Gummo"; comedies like "Office Space" and "The Big Lebowski"; classics like "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Godfather". I even like bad b-movies like the "The Toxic Avenger". But "Beloved"....NO!
This is the only movie I have ever walked out of in my life.
The premise looked interesting so some friends and I went to see it on opening day. After 3 hours of sitting through a completely dull and pointless story filled with Oprah constantly peeing in the yard, her naked grown child coming back to life and Danny Glover making love to everybody -- we couldn't take it. WE HAD TO LEAVE!!! The movie just wouldn't end. Later that night, we joked that the movie was still going; the neverending epic.
I know bad movies: "Battlefield Earth", "Plan 9 From Outer Space", "The Postman"...but this takes the cake by far.
AVOID or use to torture enemies. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 21, 2005 | | Summary | Beloved Surprise | Content
| I caught this film on cable tonight quite by accident, and it completely captivated me. I should preface my remarks by saying that I'm no fan of Oprah Winfrey, Women's themes, or the Black Experience as the focus of my entertainment. However, this story was heart-rendering and disturbing as the prosaic rituals of daily rural life are shown to be a vulnerable veneer on an underlayer of sadness, horror and regret. I differ with reviewers who hated Tandi Newton's interpretation of the Beloved character--she scared me out of my wits with her facial and verbal expressions and her innocent appearance because you just knew these poor people had a wolf in sheep's clothing under their roof! The trials of the main characters echo the healing process for the rest of the nation in the wake of the incalculable pain and loss of the Civil War and the slave economy which caused it, but it is the haunted eyes of the little family that will remain with you. |
| Rating | | | Date | January 06, 2005 | | Summary | Bravo! | Content
| First of all, to all of you naysayers that wrote that it's too "confusing", "boring", "violent", then you never gave the movie a chance.
Slavery, in itself, was nothing but a virtual bloodbath that began hundreds of years ago. You'd be a fool to try to close your eyes and ears and say, "Enough of that; it's in the past".
Sethe, who was fortunate to escape slavery, made a sacrifice that most women today would do for their children. Tell me folks, if a stranger came to your home to take your children to a life of degregation, pain and suffering, would you hand them over, or put them in a place where they would be safe? That's what Sethe did. However, she realized what she lost and longed for her Beloved to come back. And she did. Beloved was filled with the anger and the angst that Sethe built within her. When Beloved came, did you notice how Sethe behaved? Her anger left her and channeled into Beloved. But now, this anger had invaded the home and ultimately into everyone else.
Now, Beah Richards (RIP), did an extrordinary job on this movie. Her portrayal of Baby Suggs couldn't have gone to a more worthy person. It was as if Beah was leaving her message of life to everyone before she died. Truly uplifting; better than what I've heard in most churches today.
Yes, there is a lot of symbolism in this movie. Yes, this movie was made to creep you out a bit. And YES, you must pay attention to understand what's going on. I know it didn't go well in the theaters because it was running a close race with mainstream comedies, dramas, and the dreaded "Blair Witch Project", so your best bet is to sit at home with your DVD, and if you don't "get it" the first time... rewind the darn thing!
Maybe Oprah did make a real big deal about it. When she started screaming, "I had my baby!!!!" on the premiere of the movie, that may have cost her some big bucks. I will say to Oprah, "humble yourself darling... some people find babies ugly".
The cast and directors of "Beloved" captured the raw essence of this masterpiece. Toni Morrison should be very honored to have an audience that embraced her work. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 19, 2004 | | Summary | I love Oprah, but not this movie | Content
| First of all, I need to say that I'm a big fan of Oprah Winfrey. I've loved her ever since she starred as the wacky housekeeper on Gimme A Break.
However, I just didn't care for this movie. The acting and the story are fine, but there was something missing.
I'd have given this just one star, but I just can't do that to Oprah. Hers and everyone else's intentions were good, but this just isn't a great movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 08, 2004 | | Summary | Don't let box office failure trick you. | Content
| I was so disappointed that my copy of "Beloved" did not mention winning any film awards. I think this movie is one of the most underappreciated works of cinema. It should be deemed a major contribution to women's films and black films. I cried watching the film just because so much of it stirred my emotions.
Critics have said that viewers could not relate to the Beloved character. I usually do not care for Thandie Newton. She's usually just a pretty face in damsel-in-distress roles. However, she really pushed the envelope with this role. It took a lot of strength to play a ghostly woman-baby. It takes tremendous ability to perform the googly-eyed, infantil manners that she makes. In the theater, I screamed twice, once at her entrance and once toward her exit. Additionally, I think Beloved the character may have been a metaphor for us African Americans. She wanted to know about her past. She wanted to know why she was separated from her family. She was one of a kind and shrouded in controversy.
Others have said that the movie did not focus enough upon slavery as the book did. I am quite sure that if more of the horrors of slavery were shown, then people of all races, but especially non-African-Americans, would be scared off and make illogical claims about "playing the race card." This movie does a fantastic job in showing the catch-22 placed upon 19th-century Black American women. It shows how even working-class communities can punish their own members for not enacting middle-class values. Further, if the viewer looks carefully the racism of the time is continuously hinted at throughout the film.
Oprah plays well against her persona. She's the only African-American female billionaire, yet she's playing a poor ex-slave. She is usually seen in glamourous outfits, yet here she and the other characters wear no makeup. On her show, she's portrayed as in control of the world. In this film, her mental state is shattered and even her body can't control itself. Oprah is not a mother, yet she does a wonderful job in showing a mother's unending love for her daughters. I love all of Kimberly Elise's films, Set It Off, Bojangles, you name it. This actress has the Midas touch and this film is one more example of that.
This film, despite the computer graphics, showed the beauty of Midwestern flora and fauna. The actresses wore rich indigo dress and ornate hairstyles. This was a strong period piece. The script is filled with rich dialogue. "Your love is too thick, Sethe." "Love is or it isn't. Thin love ain't no love at all." "She my best thing." "No, you're your best thing." "Sometimes I think she was my sister and sometimes I know she was."
"Beloved" is becoming one of the most read texts in American English classes. I think this film will help students understand a rigorous author like Morrison. However, because this movie only shows a slice of the book, students will still have to do their reading and not just rely on the film. |
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