Beloved (1998)

78% of critics liked it
(67 reviews)
68% of users liked it
(9,130 ratings)

Jonathan Demme directed this adaptation of Toni Morrison's fact-based fifth novel (winner of a 1988 Pulitzer Prize), written in an experimental stream-of-consciousness flow and capturing the impact and aftermath of slavery on the human soul. In 1873, middle-aged Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives near… More Jonathan Demme directed this adaptation of Toni Morrison's fact-based fifth novel (winner of a 1988 Pulitzer Prize), written in an experimental stream-of-consciousness flow and capturing the impact and aftermath of slavery on the human soul. In 1873, middle-aged Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives near Cincinnati with her teenage daughter, Denver (Kimberly Elise). She gets a surprise visit from her old friend Paul D (Danny Glover), whom she knew when they were both slaves on the Kentucky plantation Sweet Home. Paul D moves in, and a number of mysteries are introduced, including Sethe's memories of her dead older daughter and the fact that Sethe has been abandoned by her husband, two sons, and Denver's grandmother, Baby Suggs (Beah Richards). When a feral, insect-covered, stuttering teenager (Thandie Newton) turns up at Sethe's house, she is nursed back to health by Denver and called "Beloved." Violent flashbacks begin to explore shocking episodes from Sethe's past. (The film is rated R "for violent images, sexuality and nudity.") Hints of the supernatural surface as the question arises -- could Beloved be Sethe's older daughter, back from the dead? This film was a pet project of producer-star Oprah Winfrey, who spent over a decade bringing this work to the screen after she bought the film rights in 1987. With titles fashioned by leading poster/titles designer Pablo Ferro and music by Rachel Portman, director Demme filmed in a variety of locations, including Pennsylvania (Philadelphia Civic Center, Lancaster's Landis Valley Museum), Maryland (Fair Hill Natural Resources Area), and Delaware (Old New Castle). ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 3 hr.
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Written By: Akosua Busia, Richard LaGravenese, Adam Brooks
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Oct 16, 1998 Wide
On DVD: May 18, 1999
Studio: Touchstone Pictures

Critic Reviews

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune
A movie that requires the viewer to meet it halfway. Those willing to make the effort will be rewarded with an exquisitely photographed and intricately layered drama.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Something rare: a brave film about the emotional toll of slavery, the anguish of memory and the cruel divisions that still sear African American lives.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Demme's potent adaptation of Morrison's novel may be substantial, but it is also engrossing.
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
A knot of fierce emotions that is left for the viewer to untangle. Make the effort.
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Once this film gets its bearings, the unsentimental fierceness of its vision brushes obstacles and quibbles from its path.
Paul Tatara, CNN.com
This screeching, grotesque display of shattered human dignity is about as subtle as five or ten thousand kicks in the head from a mule, with the kicks getting exceedingly baroque as the movie progresses.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
Okay, great performances, nice to look at -- but what this movie is missing is something to hold it together in the middle.
Jeremiah Kipp, Slant Magazine
Filled with some of the most extraordinary images of recent years, Beloved was apparently too powerful for audiences to handle back in 1998.
Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer
It is sure to be studied, debated and cherished decades from now when Americans look to film for insights on who we are and where we have been.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Demme masterfully exhibits both the harsh realities of the time with the unexplainable mystical world that settles in and around them like a fog, even if he has trouble making the two elements mesh.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Its spiritual messages, which are deep and true, redeem any structural flaws of this ambitious film.
James Sanford, Entertainment Insiders
a demanding, unsettling picture full of savage violence and deep-seated misery. Even when Sethe finds comfort in the arms of old friend Paul D ...the sight of their broken, scarred bodies coming together is heartbreaking rather than erotic.
L.J. Strom, Boxoffice Magazine
Mournful and moving, eerie and uncompromising.
Charlotte O'Sullivan, Sight and Sound
Both Winfrey and Demme get a lot wrong.

Read all 14 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Robert C

I think this movie was greatly underated partly because of Oprah's involvment, but she does another amazing job at acting and the film is beautifully shot and it's a story that will first touch and then break your heart. Jonathan Demme did an amazing job, powerful stuff.
Daniel P

Made with conviction, passion, labor and the very best of intentions, <i>Beloved</i> is a dense, complex, hard going but rewarding film based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Oprah Winfrey may have a limited range but she gives it all 100%, and Kimberley Elise is… More
Made with conviction, passion, labor and the very best of intentions, <i>Beloved</i> is a dense, complex, hard going but rewarding film based on a Pulitzer Prize winning novel. Oprah Winfrey may have a limited range but she gives it all 100%, and Kimberley Elise is especially excellent. The fantastical elements remain convincing by virtue of their being presented as part of the everyday, whilst the issue of slavery is shown for all its horror by being so personally entwined in the core group of characters. The occasionally over-played scene (Thandie Newton lurches from brilliant to unintentionally funny, often in the same scene) and the confusing first section stop it from becoming the masterpiece that Demme and Winfrey so clearly strived for, but this remains a massively undervalued and underrated film, worthy of re-investigation.