Truly 'Beloved'

By Hilliary Martino, On-Line Forty-Niner

Thursday, October 22, 1998

Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme's "Beloved" is a powerfully crafted drama that tells a spiritual, haunting and mystical portrayal of a woman's struggle to escape the painful oppression of slavery.

The movie is an intriguing adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Nobel laureate Toni Morrison. The story's bewitching context shows the horrifying effects of slavery.

The movie stars and is produced by Academy Award nominee Oprah Winfrey in her first feature film since "The Color Purple."

The story takes place in a small town known as Sweet Home in rural Ohio, between 1855 and 1873. Winfrey plays Sethe, a woman with an iron will, keeping herself and her family from the shackles of slavery.

Danny Glover plays Paul D, an old friend from Sethe's past who comes to visit her. Upon his arrival, many strange and haunting events occur in Sethe's household.

The movie's title role, played by Thandie Newton, is a suspicious character whose childlike behavior and naive personality set the stage for the tragic story.

The movie's complex efforts to spin a suspenseful and mysterious web may make it difficult to follow in its entirety. However, the movie as a whole can be loved and appreciated by many.