The Secret Life of Bees.
Nov. 4th, 2008 06:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWent to see The Secret Lives of Bees after voting. Cost me only $8.50, which is pretty good considering the current price is $11.50-$12. I remember when it was $8.50 and a maitenee was $5.50. It was only two years ago, in 2006.
The Secret Lives of Bees is based on the book of the same name, which I have not read so have no clue how closely it follows the book. It's one of the many books that my mother has read and felt the need to tell me the entire plot of, to the extent that I sort of feel like I've read it and am not inclined to read it myself. She did this to me with The Time Traveler's Wife. But it was far too long ago, for to me remember.
The film stars Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Queen Latifa - who are all excellent.
It's not quite what I expected and in two specific scenes, reinforces the historic importance of what happened today.
The first: In the film, Rosalie, played by Jennifer Hudson, is taking care of Lily (Dakota Fanning) while picking peaches with Lily's father at the orchard where they both work. On her birthday, Rosalie takes Lily to town, Rosalie wants to register to vote. It is 1965 and the story takes place in rural South Carolina. On her way to vote, Rosalie is stopped by a bunch of white men, who proceed to beat her up. When the police arrive, Rosalie is arrested and put in jail for voting.
The second: Lily has become friendly with a black boy, named Zacharey. Lily is white (in case you live under a rock and don't know who Dakota Fanning is). They go to the movies and sit together in the "colored" section. A bunch of white men come in with bats and take Zacharey off to teach him a lesson.
As I watched this, I was aware of several things: 1) I was sitting in a theater surrounded by blacks, the only white in the audience. 2) I voted today for an African American who had a white mother and a black father for President of the US, while standing in line with women and blacks.
This film showed how far we've come in a relatively short period of time. I cried tears of pride during the film. Proud of my country and proud of how far we've come.
The film itself is flawed. The ending is a bit too neat, and the climax doesn't quite track - I had difficulty believing the characters would react in quite the matter they did, it felt contrived. But the acting and direction works throughout. Also it has quiet moments, explaining how honey is removed from beehives amongst them. These moments could be perceived by some as slow, but I felt they moved pretty quickly.
I recommend The Secret Life of Bees. While it is not a brilliant film, it is an enjoyable and moving one. What I like to call a happy film, that leaves you with a warm feeling at the end.
[Not the best written film review, but in my defense, I'm somewhat preoccupied - watching the news at the same time. Off at 7pm to have drinks with Wales at our local bar, Abilene, to watch the results with other people.]
The Secret Lives of Bees is based on the book of the same name, which I have not read so have no clue how closely it follows the book. It's one of the many books that my mother has read and felt the need to tell me the entire plot of, to the extent that I sort of feel like I've read it and am not inclined to read it myself. She did this to me with The Time Traveler's Wife. But it was far too long ago, for to me remember.
The film stars Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Queen Latifa - who are all excellent.
It's not quite what I expected and in two specific scenes, reinforces the historic importance of what happened today.
The first: In the film, Rosalie, played by Jennifer Hudson, is taking care of Lily (Dakota Fanning) while picking peaches with Lily's father at the orchard where they both work. On her birthday, Rosalie takes Lily to town, Rosalie wants to register to vote. It is 1965 and the story takes place in rural South Carolina. On her way to vote, Rosalie is stopped by a bunch of white men, who proceed to beat her up. When the police arrive, Rosalie is arrested and put in jail for voting.
The second: Lily has become friendly with a black boy, named Zacharey. Lily is white (in case you live under a rock and don't know who Dakota Fanning is). They go to the movies and sit together in the "colored" section. A bunch of white men come in with bats and take Zacharey off to teach him a lesson.
As I watched this, I was aware of several things: 1) I was sitting in a theater surrounded by blacks, the only white in the audience. 2) I voted today for an African American who had a white mother and a black father for President of the US, while standing in line with women and blacks.
This film showed how far we've come in a relatively short period of time. I cried tears of pride during the film. Proud of my country and proud of how far we've come.
The film itself is flawed. The ending is a bit too neat, and the climax doesn't quite track - I had difficulty believing the characters would react in quite the matter they did, it felt contrived. But the acting and direction works throughout. Also it has quiet moments, explaining how honey is removed from beehives amongst them. These moments could be perceived by some as slow, but I felt they moved pretty quickly.
I recommend The Secret Life of Bees. While it is not a brilliant film, it is an enjoyable and moving one. What I like to call a happy film, that leaves you with a warm feeling at the end.
[Not the best written film review, but in my defense, I'm somewhat preoccupied - watching the news at the same time. Off at 7pm to have drinks with Wales at our local bar, Abilene, to watch the results with other people.]