The Secret Life of Bees

As a realistic showing of life in countryside South Caroline in 1964, “The Secret Life of Bees,” released in 2008, is dreaming. As a story of hope and love, it is delightful. Should it have been hurting, or a story? Roger Ebert said in his review, “Parable, I think, so it will please those who loved the novel by Sue Monk Kidd.” One critic described the film as sappy, syrupy, sentimental and sermonizing, and those are only the S’s. The same critic said that it is also “wholesome and heartwarming,” however you will never see “wholesome” used in a movie poster.

Ebert said, “I go with heartwarming. There is such a thing as feeling superior to your emotions, but I trust mine. If I sense the beginnings of a teardrop in my eye during a movie, that is evidence more tangible than all the mighty weight of Film Theory. "The immediate experience," one of the wisest of critics called it. That's what you have to acknowledge. I watched the movie, abandoned history and plausibility, and just plain fell for it. If it had been a bad movie, it would have been ripe for vivisection. But it is not a bad movie.”

Ebert goes on to say, “Above all, it contains characters I care for, played by actors I admire.” If a script doesn’t distract, a movie like that has just got to work. Queen Latifah, who combines confidence, humor and a type of splendor, plays August Boatwright, a woman about as believable as a fairy godmother, but who cares? Ebert describes, “She lives outside town in a house painted the color of the Easter Bunny and gathers honey for a living. Famous honey, from happy bees.” Living with her are her two sisters: June (singer Alicia Keys), a classical cellist and civil rights activist, and May (Sophie Okonedo), who you don’t want to tell any sad news to.

In a house many miles away, 14-year-old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning) lives with her evil father (Paul Bettany). Her best friend and defender, the black housekeeper Rosaleen, played by the great Jennifer Hudson, tolerates the anger of the father, because she will not leave Lily alone. One day Rosaleen is so brave as to try to register to vote and is beaten by racists in the nearby town. Sadly, this ends with her getting arrested. Lily helps her run away from town, and they go on an adventure to the town of Tiburon, that she knows about because of something she found in her late mother’s, played by Hilarie Burton, belongings…the label for a honey jar.

Ebert noted, “As Lily helps Rosaleen flee from virtual slavery, it's impossible not to think about Huck and Jim, unless political correctness has prevented you from reading that greatest of all novels about black and white in America.” From what little we see of the residents in Tiburon, they’re as nice as the residents in Lily’s hometown were cruel.

They end up in front of August’s house. She welcomes them in, over fighting from the aggressive June. Here is where the right story starts, involving discoveries about the past, problems in the present and hopes for the future. These are perfectly dealt with over-the-top events that would not even dared be told here.

Ebert said, “Dakota Fanning comes of age in "The Secret Life of Bees" and in the somewhat similar but less successful "Hounddog." She's not a kid anymore. She has always been a good actress, and she is only growing deeper and better. I expect her to make the transition from child to woman with the same composure and wisdom that Jodie Foster demonstrated. Here she plays a plucky, forthright and sometimes sad and needy young teen with the breadth this role requires and a depth that transforms it.”

Then look at Sophie Okonedo, the London-born, Cambridge-educated actress who has no trouble at all playing a childlike, deeply sad country girl. The English have a little trouble with Southern accents. Ebert admitted, “Michael Caine explained it to me once. It has to do with Appalachia being settled by working-class Brits.” Her May is the main part of the film, because her own heart is so open. She has some sensitive emotional transitions to cross here and convinces us of them. Remember her in “Hotel Rwanda?”

The Alicia Keys character, June, is really too complex for a supporting role. Ebert said, “In the workings of the story, she functions as an eye-opener for Rosaleen, who has never guessed black women could be so gifted and outspoken.” The three sisters live in a peaceful household that must have taken a whole lot of honey sales, even then, to keep. That isn’t a problem. We believe it, because Queen Latifah as August looks watchfully on everyone in front of her, and nobody can smile like Latifah. Ebert credited, “If ever there was a woman born to be christened Queen, she's the one.”

Ebert ended his review by saying, “I have great affection for this film because it honors a novel that many people loved for good reasons. It isn't superior, nor does it dumb it down. It sees what is good and honors it. The South was most likely not like this in 1964. That was the year the Civil Rights Act was passed, and a year before the Voting Rights Act became law. The Boatwright farm, as I said, is really a dream. But in those hard days, people needed dreams.”

I actually read this book when I was a senior in high school and I actually really liked the book. I had found out from one of my high school friends when we were in Community College that they were going to come out with a film adaptation of “The Secret Life of Bees.” I never went to the theater to watch it, but my brother had recorded this on our DVR and I watched it. For an adaptation, this actually was faithful to the novel. If you have read the novel, then see the film, you will actually love it. If you haven’t read the novel, still see the film, it’s perfect for this month. After seeing this film, you will want to read the novel.

Sorry for posting this late, but it almost slipped my mind that I was supposed to blog today, so I apologize. Look out next week when I not only continue “Black History Movie Month,” but I review a classic film that suits Valentine’s Day.