Sunday 2 May 2010

Precious

Precious – 2009, Lee Daniels

Precious is a film that comes with a lot of baggage. Once American critics had raved over it so much, British film critics were predictably muted in their praise, and willing to knock it for frivolous reasons. I’ve read broadsheet reviews that say parts of the film play out like a sitcom, or that question why the characters who are trying to save Precious don’t encourage her to loose weight. I think the reason the UK press aren’t all that enthusiastic about Precious is that they are too worried about overstating the social implications of the film. No white British middle class critic can claim to truly understand or relate to impoverished life in black ghettos, and none would, nor would I. But it seems that they fear to speak too highly of Precious in case people mistake praise as a claim that they relate to the situation. The fact that the film is produced and championed by Oprah Winfrey was never going to help.

The film tells the story of Claireece Precious Jones, an illiterate teenage girl living with her abusive mother in Harlem. Precious’ life is hell, and the film follows her as she tries to improve her predicament. It can be very simplistically be described as a ‘victory in the face of adversity feel good film’, and is so by its detractors, but what adversity.

I’d heard that Precious was harrowing, and it is. I can’t recall the last time I sat in a cinema where everyone gasped in shock together. Mo'Nique's performance as Precious’ mother is every bit as good as everyone says and she deserves all the awards she is nominated for. What I hadn’t expected was for the film to be so funny. Some scenes featuring Precious friends are intentionally humorous, some are even laugh out loud funny. There are parts that made me laugh that are not meant to be funny, but that’s because listening to African American’s say ‘motherfucker’ makes me giggle. Lee Daniels has achieved just the right balance of humour and horror. The film has the happy ending you’d expect and it works well. A grim ending would have been too much. The upbeat ending is necessary, even if it tempts critics to say it undermines the rest of the film.

The one common criticism of the film I would go along with is that some of Daniel’s direction is heavy handed. The montages and fantasy sequences are a bit clunky and they expose that the film was made with a relatively small budget. Precious’ fantasies are a necessary device. She is so withdrawn that, to her, they are a real part of her life. She lives within herself to escape the abuse.

No frivolous link this time y’all.

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