Beloved

1998 "The past has a life of its own."
6| 2h52m| R| en| More Info
Released: 16 October 1998 Released
Producted By: Harpo Films
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

After Paul D. finds his old slave friend Sethe in Ohio and moves in with her and her daughter Denver, a strange girl comes along by the name of "Beloved". Sethe and Denver take her in and then strange things start to happen...

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Reviews

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.
Curt Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
wes-connors After the US Civil War, hard-working Oprah Winfrey (as Sethe) lives in the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio. During flashbacks, we will see her house is haunted by a restless spirit who likes to shake up the set. An uncommon woman, Ms. Winfrey demonstrates supernatural powers of her own when she heals the family dog. Another flashback provides information about the incident which shaped Winfrey's "Sethe" and her life – her sadistic ex-master tried to take her back to the plantation, resulting in Winfrey taking drastic measures to save her children from slavery...Presently, Winfrey lives with her teenage daughter Kimberly Elise (as Denver). Soon, they are joined by another ex-slave from the "Sweet Home" plantation – Danny Glover (as Paul D). The trio becomes a quartet following a fun visit to the carnival and a look at Winfrey squatting to urinate. Winfrey decides to take in weird, but well-dressed waif Thandie Newton (as Beloved, after an insect attack. Introducing herself like the girl from "The Exorcist" (1973), Ms. Newton turns out to be more like a baby in a woman's body. She may also hold the key to Winfrey's soul...Trying to turn Toni Morrison's deservedly acclaimed novel "Beloved" (1987) into a worthy film is an admirable task...The production looks classy, with some beautiful photographed (by Tak Fujimoto) segments; dusty smoke is piped in so some scenes don't look too pretty. "Academy Award" favorite Colleen Atwood was nominated for her costume design. Lisa Gay Hamilton is well cast as a younger Winfrey, but her characterization suffers from the non-linear editing. The strongest, most consistent performer is relative newcomer Kimberly Elise. Granted, she has a less emotionally wrought role to play, but she also plays her "Denver" beautifully and is harder to catch acting than most...This attempt was piloted by Winfrey, a major talk-show host and part-time actress who has since become an unimaginably wealthy media guru. When celebrities sin, they can be forgiven by apologizing to "Oprah" in a face-to-face interview. Winfrey the actress passes muster, here; that the film wasn't perfect shouldn't negate her opening herself up to act more often, and take criticism. What really doesn't work are the supernatural elements; they look better in the book. It might have been interesting to leave out the overtly supernatural and make "Beloved" a straight drama.****** Beloved (10/8/98) Jonathan Demme ~ Oprah Winfrey, Kimberly Elise, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton
A_Malveaux This effort is unexpectedly cohesive, coherent, sub-text-ed with social diaspora, psychological dissolution, and emotional 'dysentery'; successfully juxtaposed and superimposed without being excessively offensive or exacerbating emotional trauma. The plot in contrast to the literary text has , at times, a staccato disconnected-ness, however the overall performance of the protagonist coupled with the 'solo' narrative inserts prove to be effective with keeping an audience at pace, or at least, a half step behind the instant cognitive interpretation of this visual manifesto. It's a valiant effort. Meritorious indeed!!!!
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.