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Reviews of Recent Independent, Foreign, & Documentary Films in Theaters and DVD/Home Video
PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL 'PUSH' BY
SAPPHIRE To be rational in the face of the terror to which Claireece “Precious” Jones is subjected is a remarkable feat, because it is indeed terrible. She’s the victim of cyclical violence more terrible than in most horror films—sexually abused by both her parents, impregnated twice by her delinquent father, and tormented both physically and emotionally on a daily basis by her sociopath mother. Lee Daniels’s short roster of films, as both a director and a producer (Shadowboxer), may be forceful and impassioned, but they don’t concern themselves as much with social awareness as they do with an awareness of the fucked-up-ness of the world. Don’t get me wrong. This film, set in Harlem in 1987, doesn’t sink to Crash level, invoking an audience’s moral insecurities as a shortcut to engaging cinema. It’s closer instead to 2004’s The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things, Asia Argento’s expressionistic, sadomasochistic take on a hard-knock upbringing. Both are genre films more than they are social causes, made by cinephiles, not sociologists. Lee Daniels may speak and act like an ideologue, but he is, in fact, just an impassioned filmmaker. It’s likely his charisma, more than anything, carried this film through a reportedly difficult production. Precious isn’t charismatic cinema, it’s cinematic charisma, if there can be such a thing. Scrapping one cinematographer while already in production, and hiring the very commercial Andrew Dunn, Daniels adds slick, stylized visuals to an already hyperbolic script. For all its violence (and there is a lot), the most terrifying moment in the film is the shot of dinner, deep frying on the stove. Just one second of that crackling, bubbling fat proves Daniels’s ability to create a visceral, palpable world. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe is unforgettable in the title role, but it’s really more for her presence than her performance. For a 300-pound teenage girl, just appearing on camera as a lead character is a triumph, let alone for playing a catch-all for the many problems of the inner city. A glimpse into her eyes often reveals confusion and inconsistency, as if Sidibe is not sure at any given moment whether to be frustrated or optimistic. Under the circumstances, audiences will find themselves feeling the same way. Most are also taking note of the pop star-studded cast, an old trick for Daniels, although I’m not sure I get the point. Mariah Carey plays a racially-ambiguous social worker, and Lenny Kravitz, as a soft-spoken male nurse, is, um, against type, to say the least. Where Precious embodies rational calm in the midst of unspeakable chaos—making one smart decision after the next—her vicious and insecure mother Mary (Mo’Nique) is an unholy rage of reciprocation, transferring her own life’s injustices onto her daughter. Mo’Nique is as fine an actress as they come, committing to every despicable bit of vitriol that flies from her mouth, yet somehow finding a complete person somewhere in the character. While all
of these elements make for exciting cinema, they don’t exactly make
steps toward mitigating any of this societal violence or any of these
complex social dilemmas. Perhaps that’s why a film like this one is
embraced by a figure like Oprah Winfrey, whose entire social agenda is
based on Good Samaritanism, and whose career has been built on
oversimplified value judgments. Projects like this may be the most
effective kind of cinema, but as social causes, they’re toothless.
Michael Lee
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