Written on the 1st of February 2010 by Rachel Quilty
Last weekend I was invite to attend the sneak preview of Precious. These events are prior to Advanced Screenings and generally are by invitation only.
I had heard that Oprah was an Executive Producer of the movie and that the cast included high profile names such as Monique, Mariah Carey and with other celebrity cameo appearances. With this in mind my expectation was of an inspiring uplifting movie that would pleasantly pass a few hours on a Sunday afternoon.
Well, you know the Universe or God knocks on the door when there is something you need to get. I in for a surprise. A shocking surprise!As my small party left the cinema we were all quiet. No one said a word. We were eager to go or separate ways and dwell in our thoughts on the movie.
The write ups had been accurate I just hadn’t paid attention. Gritty, compelling, honest, confronting, uncomfortable were all adjectives used to describe the movie. I was to dwell on the movie for the next few days. And I wondered what I was meant to get. Several things have since come to mind and I am now comfortable.
Precious a young pregnant teenage girl in Harem, hid in a fantasy world to escape the brutal results of her father’s sexual abuse. As a last resort she is provided an opportunity to learn to read and write. This story is unromantic and bitingly honest.
The movie ’ Precious’ is an adaptation of the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. Monique went on to win the Oscar for best supporting actress in her devastatingly honest and ignorant role as Precious’ mother. Rated R in the US and M+ in Australia this is a movie for the courageous. The mature ratings are not for sensational gratuitous scenes but quietly shocking reality.
If you felt moved by Kite Runner, you will appreciate ‘Precious’. If your easy modern life depresses you, you will be confronted by ‘Precious’. If you question the system, you will see a different world in ‘Precious’. If you are finished with over romanticized movies, ‘Precious’ will warm you. If you enjoy the psychology of a movie, ‘Precious’ will fry you.
You may not be inspired but you will be grateful for your life as a result of watching ‘Precious’. Be warned this movie is not for the faint hearted.
Precious opens in Cinema’s around Australia 4th February 2010 and is now playing in Qld cinemas
Graceville Twin - Graceville
- Palace Centro – New Farm/ F Valley
- Dendy Portside – Portside Hamilton
- Gold Coast Arts Centre
Jump the Q review: Three and a half stars.
Releases: 4 February 2010
Genre: Drama
Director: Lee Daniels
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic) at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival
Selected to screen in ‘Un Certain Regard’ at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
Winner of the Audience Award at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival Monique- Best Supporting Actress Award at the 2010 Academy Awards
SYNOPSIS:
PRECIOUS, is the kind of story that is rarely told, about a character who society usually writes off, judges as a statistic, or simply ignores. PRECIOUS is set in Harlem and tells the story of an overweight, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child and is invited to enrol in an alternative school in the hope that her life can head in a new direction.
