When I read some reviews on here, I think to myself, did we actually see the same movie?
Perhaps this is "Politically Incorrect by Today's Standards", and to that I reply, well the setting is 1954 and this is a fresh Brown v. Board of Education instillation what else is it supposed to be? Are we supposed to scrub it up to a sanitized effort so the newer generation can feel safe?
If one is needing to make it more clear how else do you show the obvious backlash that can and did occur in that time with racial desegregation in schools?
While I won't go into a rehash of what has been said here on plot points, all I can say is watch the film and ask yourself, where did the character start and where did she end?
I found the story to be uplifting and despite the harsh reality of those times and her poor judgment (in continuing the "relationship" at least in that setting!), the facts are that she is a more confident person and has looked possible death in the eye and spit it out in all its glory. If you checked out before the last few moments of the film, shame on you. They even gave a warning at the beginning of the film!
I wish more films were like this: unapologetic and raw and most of all honest in their delivery. Anne Heywood no doubt got some hell for her excellent performance and that is a shame indeed.
To call her looking for love or to even pass it off as some simplistic sex is to miss the point. Shouldn't great character have dimension and not be explained away in some cookie cutter Hollywood formula?
This is a great film, and while it has been correctly labeled as a melodrama, it is in many ways an understatement to pass it off as one of many of its kind. The emotional core is what made this film impact me the way it did, and I felt a duty to defend it as being not just any old melodrama, but the best of its kind.
Perhaps this is "Politically Incorrect by Today's Standards", and to that I reply, well the setting is 1954 and this is a fresh Brown v. Board of Education instillation what else is it supposed to be? Are we supposed to scrub it up to a sanitized effort so the newer generation can feel safe?
If one is needing to make it more clear how else do you show the obvious backlash that can and did occur in that time with racial desegregation in schools?
While I won't go into a rehash of what has been said here on plot points, all I can say is watch the film and ask yourself, where did the character start and where did she end?
I found the story to be uplifting and despite the harsh reality of those times and her poor judgment (in continuing the "relationship" at least in that setting!), the facts are that she is a more confident person and has looked possible death in the eye and spit it out in all its glory. If you checked out before the last few moments of the film, shame on you. They even gave a warning at the beginning of the film!
I wish more films were like this: unapologetic and raw and most of all honest in their delivery. Anne Heywood no doubt got some hell for her excellent performance and that is a shame indeed.
To call her looking for love or to even pass it off as some simplistic sex is to miss the point. Shouldn't great character have dimension and not be explained away in some cookie cutter Hollywood formula?
This is a great film, and while it has been correctly labeled as a melodrama, it is in many ways an understatement to pass it off as one of many of its kind. The emotional core is what made this film impact me the way it did, and I felt a duty to defend it as being not just any old melodrama, but the best of its kind.