Beloved (1998)

Based on the book by Toni Morrison, in which a slave is visited by the spirit of a mysterious young woman

Director:

Jonathan Demme

Writers:

Toni Morrison (novel), Akosua Busia (screenplay)

Stars:

Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Yada Beener

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yada Beener	...	Denver aged 9
Emil Pinnock	...	Howard aged 14
Calen Johnson	...	Buglar aged 13
Oprah Winfrey	...	Sethe
Beah Richards	...	Baby Suggs
Danny Glover	...	Paul D
Kimberly Elise	...	Denver
Jude Ciccolella	...	Schoolteacher
Kessia Embry	...	Amy Denver (as Kessia Kordelle)
Dashiell Eaves	...	Schoolteacher's Nephew
LisaGay Hamilton	...	Younger Sethe (as Lisa Gay Hamilton)
Tyler Hinson	...	Baby Beloved
Brian Hooks	...	Young Paul D
Hill Harper	...	Halle
Thandie Newton	...	Beloved

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...

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Plot Keywords:

f rated | spirit | farm | freedom | slavery | 

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Taglines:

The past has a life of its own.

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Genres:

Drama | History | Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent images, sexuality and nudity

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Beloved

Filming Locations:

Eckert James River Bat Cave Preserve, Mason County, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,165,551, 18 October 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$22,852,487

Company Credits

Production Co:

Harpo Films, Clinica Estetico, Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

172 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The farmhouse scenes were filmed in Fair Hill, Maryland, on park land along the Big Elk Creek (seen in the creek wading scene). Park Manager Ed Walls even had a bit part as the ferris wheel operator. The house was built for the movie, though it was convincing enough to fool park goers into thinking it was a real old farmhouse after the movie crew departed. There was no snow that year, so the winter scenes were fabricated with fake snow, plastic icicles, and shaved ice, all of which had to be vacuumed up from the fields once shooting was completed. During filming, the park office got a call from another Maryland park asking for advice on dealing with a another film crew. They claimed some kids wanted to film a movie, but they said they didn't seem to know what they were doing, and seemed to just be running around the woods with cameras. The Beloved ended up not being nearly as big of a box-office draw as The Blair Witch Project (1999)

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Goofs

A mixing bowl that Sithe was using in the begining breaks when the ghost attacks for the last time. It's whole again in the scene where she is picking the ice towards the end.

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Quotes

Paul D: [after becoming more and more suspicious of Beloved] Sethe. Sethe, baby, we were starting to feel a little like a family ourself, till she come along.
Sethe: Is that what got your teeth on edge?
Paul D: It's a feeling in me. I can't place it. It's her.
Sethe: You wanna feel something? Feel what it feel like to be a colored woman, roaming the roads, and anything God made liable to jump on you. Feel that!
Paul D: I know every bit of that, Sethe. I wasn't born yesterday, and I never mistreated a woman in my life.
Sethe: Well, that ...
[...]

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Connections

Referenced in The Salon (2005)

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Soundtracks

Pullin' The Skiff
Traditional
Performed by Oprah Winfrey, Kimberly Elise, Thandie Newton

User Reviews

A Fair Film

Beloved the movie seeks to rival Beloved the novel in telling the African-American story. While it could not attempt to capture all of the richness of Morrison's great novel, it does do what it can in the constraints of a feature movie. The performances are phenomenal, and any Oscar nominations will be well deserved. The Ohio/Kentucky background takes one's breath away and the movie really does grip its viewer during key scenes

However, Morrison's non-linear style did not translate as well on the big screen and the flashbacks are truly confusing at points. Moreover, the movie has about three natural climaxes which heighten the viewer's awareness of the length of the movie.

All told, it is a good movie, but it is not a must-see movie, nor will it have the cultural impact Oprah intended.

(As for no likeable white characters which some posts have charged, first Mr. Baldwin is a likeable white person. Second, in a post-slavery society of Ohio/Kentucky, why do there have to be any good whites in this narrow world? Oh yeah, don't be mad at Oprah for that--Morrison didn't include any in her book either)