One of the worst movies in cinematic history (SPOILERS)
Before the haters come out telling me that I need to be intelligent to 'get' this movie, I get it. I find the theme of this movie to be extremely relevant. That does not mean that a good theme makes for a good movie. And in the case of Beloved, both the book (which I have read) and the movie fail.
I am fully aware the book won a Pulitzer. And I can only imagine that it was the theme that earned the prize. The idea of a mother who would murder her own children to save them from the horrors of slavery is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking in its truth. Additionally, I find and examination of how slavery affected the lives of emmancipated slaves to be extremely compelling. That message, however, is severly marred by the seriously digusting and ridiculous characters of this story.
Sethe, who should be a lamentable character, ends up as a woman racked more by guilt than conviction. This causes her to look like a psychopathic murderer rather than a justifiably compassionate and merciful mother. Paul D is a weak character who is easily seduced, then in guilt, wants Sethe pregnant...which would only repeat the problem underlying in Sethe's life. When things get too heavy, he leaves this already fragile woman to deal with the issues herself. Beloved is a disturbing character strait out of the swamp. The bubbling, gurgling, and tantrums make her into more of a zombie than the dead child she represents. Furthermore, they distract us from the supposed point of her existence. Her actions, beyond the tantrums, are anything but child-like. And, then the twist. She may not be the reincarnation of the dead child at all, but simply another escaped slave accused of killing her master. She is the largest reason for the failure of the novel and the movie. And, because she is the central theme, the whole thing collapses upon itself.
I would never recommend this movie to anyone. As I said, the theme is relevant, but suffered from Morrison's sick imagination. The characters written by Morrison destroyed the beautiful message she had to share. I can only imagine that she was going for the route of harsh reality. She ended up with creepy and largely unidentifiable. It is too bad that a story about a slave who would rather see her children dead rather than subjected to the horrors and humiliation of slavery couldn't have been told without public urination, gratuitous sex, and swamp people.