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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786305305842
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
ISBN: 6305305846
Label: Walt Disney Video
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Walt Disney Video
Release Date: November 02, 1999
Running Time: 172 minutes
Sales Rank: 15798
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Theatrical Release Date: October 16, 1998
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com:
This layered film, a labor of love from director Jonathan Demme and star Oprah Winfrey, covers a lot of turf in its nearly three-hour running time. Part slavery fable, part mother-daughter tale, part ghost story, Beloved demands an audience's full attention from its dramatic, slightly bewildering opening, when a family dog comes down on the wrong side of some angry, unseen force. But Demme and his talented cast provide an unforgettable payoff for those who surrender.
The film traces the life of Sethe (played in her middle years by Winfrey), a former slave who has rebuilt what seems to be a peaceful, productive life in Ohio. Yet through chilling, sparing use of flashback, Demme slowly unveils, as does the Toni Morrison masterpiece on which the film is based, the horrors of Sethe's former life, and the terrible event that led to the haunting of Sethe's home.
While the horrors of slavery and the bloody event in Sethe's family leave undeniable impressions, the film's brilliance is also evidenced in smaller, equally satisfying ways. Rachel Portman's spiritual-influenced score is as uplifting as it is haunting, and the glimpses of the post-slavery African American world--as with a simple family outing to a local carnival, or a ladies' sewing-and-gospel circle--make this a treat for the intellect as well as the heart. The members of the cast, especially Kimberly Elise as Sethe's struggling daughter and Thandie Newton as the mysterious title character, are supremely affecting. --Anne Hurley
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Very Strange Story
Tell me what you think of this plot: A child comes back to life to confront the mother who cut her throat, only she is a grown woman, but still talks like a child. Meanwhile this so-called ghost manages to seduce her mother's "boyfriend" who has come back after 18 years. The ghost manages to get pregnant by him. Then the "ghost", totally naked and pregnant is brought out on the front porch by her mother and disappears in a couple of minutes when a group of church ladies start chanting and singing ... Read More
Rating:  - One of the most underrated films of the last 25 years
"Beloved" was never meant to be an easy story -- certainly not for its subject matter, nor for its narrative structure, but its power lies in both. Part ghost story, part history, part love story, it weaves a number of diverse elements together in a manner that echoes slave narratives.
One day this movie will get the credit it deserves. Demme and Winfrey took a very difficult book and made a film that works. Some moments are absolutely stunning.
I agree that Rachel Portman's ... Read More
Rating: - The Perfect Movie
I recieved the dvd in record time, I am very, very, very happy with my purchase.
Debra
Rating: - Don't Understand The Negative
I just rewatched this film after about 10 years, and I was blown away again. As someone who thinks the book is one of America's greatest novels of all time, I have to say Jonathan Demme and the cast of Beloved created some flawless work. I don't think I will ever understand the negative reviews of this film or the novel for that matter. When I read people say "disgusting" or "gross" about the film, I get very worried that people don't understand how disgusting and gross American slavery was. This film ... Read More
Rating:  - Despised
Im glad to see that Im not the only one who doesnt like this slop. People have a peculiar habit of embracing a movie because Oprah Lewinsky's name attached to it. The setting of the movie takes place after slavery. The whole thing is about Oprah(whose character name I forgot) murders two of her children during slavery so that the slavemaster wouldnt put her children in slavery. She kills one of them by bashing the baby's head against a wall and she slashes the throat of the other child. The child who neck ... Read More
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