Plot
Based on the book by Toni Morrison, in which a slave is visited by the spirit of her deceased daughter.
Release Year: 1998
Rating: 5.7/10 (4,394 voted)
Critic's Score: 57/100
Director:
Jonathan Demme
Stars: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton
Storyline 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...
Writers: Toni Morrison, Akosua Busia
Cast: Oprah Winfrey
-
Sethe
Danny Glover
-
Paul D Garner
Thandie Newton
-
Beloved
Kimberly Elise
-
Denver
Beah Richards
-
Baby Suggs, aka Grandma Baby
Lisa Gay Hamilton
-
Younger Sethe
Albert Hall
-
Stamp Paid
Irma P. Hall
-
Ella
Carol Jean Lewis
-
Janey Wagon
Kessia Embry
-
Amy Denver
(as Kessia Kordelle)
Jude Ciccolella
-
Schoolteacher
Anthony Chisholm
-
Langhorne
Dorothy Love Coates
-
M. Lucille Williams
Jane White
-
Lady Jones
Yada Beener
-
Denver aged 9
Taglines:
The past has a life of its own.
Release Date: 16 October 1998
Filming Locations: Fair Hill Natural Resources Area - 376 Fair Hill Drive, Fair Hill, Maryland, USA
Box Office Details
Budget: $53,000,000
(estimated)
Opening Weekend: $8,165,551
(USA)
(18 October 1998)
(1501 Screens)
Gross: $22,852,487
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
A subplot in the novel, omitted from the film version, suggests that Beloved might actually be a missing woman from a nearby town who was tortured and imprisoned by a white man. The subplot underscored Sethe's need for Beloved to be her reincarnated daughter.
Goofs:
Continuity:
When Paul D first arrives and sits on the porch with Sethe, her braids are in front of her shoulders. In the full shot that comes immediately after Sethe's braids are behind her shoulders.
Quotes: Paul D:
That girl... Beloved. She really gone, like they say? Denver:
Haven't seen her since that way. Mama say she gone. She can feel it. Paul D:
You think she was sure enough your sister? Denver:
Sometimes. Other times... I think she was more.
User Review
Beautiful, haunting, and denied the praise it deserves
Rating:
Beloved is one of the best movies of the last decade. I have read many,
many reviews which seem to have been written by those who have little to
no
idea of just how complex and difficult Toni Morrison's original novel can
be. Of course Beloved (the movie) will be long, and of course it will be
emotionally draining and even confusing - the book was! That said, I
loved
the novel and the film version of it, which follows the original material
almost verbatim. (To try and change the story would be to tamper
needlessly
with a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize-winning book). I am no Oprah nut but she
obviously had a deep respect and understanding for the story, which is
evident in her surprisingly understated acting. Thandie Newton was simply
amazing; I am glad I watched the film if for nothing else than the chance
to
see her performance (which, to be honest, has helped a key facet of the
book
make sense for me). The production design is flawless, and, as always,
Jonathan Demme proves he's more than above average as a director. If you
like pulp trash and want your movies dumb, loud, and shallow, avoid the
movie version of Beloved. But if you're looking for a magnificently acted
and gorgeously produced film, see this movie the first chance you get.
I'm
very glad I did.
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