As 16-year-old Clareece “Precious” Jones, the title character of the new film by Lee Daniels, Gabourey Sidibe has a barren landscape of a face. Her lips are drawn tight to keep the hurt inside, and her eyes recede deep into her puffy cheeks. And Daniels isn’t afraid to make us linger on that face, giving us time to search for a glimmer of hope or heart behind this walking death mask. And Daniels, along with screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher, who adapted the story from Sapphire’s novel, Push, also isn’t afraid to show us the genesis of Precious’s vacant stare. Relentlessly berated and abused by her mother and impregnated twice by her father, the movie is equally unrelenting in its depiction of Precious’s life.
On the surface, it’s the stuff of melodrama. At the Milwaukee Film Festival screening on Sunday night, there were audible gasps and outcries as the hardships and indignities (mild words for what she suffers) pile up as the narrative progresses. I’m not sure if this is a great film, but it’s certainly a courageous one, both for its unflinchingly bleak story and the performances that g
ive it full-blooded life.
The Milwaukee Film showing was only Precious’ third screening in the U.S. It’s set for wide release in November, and is already generating considerable Oscar buzz (most of which centers on whether such a bleak film could win the prize). Nominations are almost assured for “Gabby” Sidibe and Mo’Nique, who plays her monster of a mother. They’ll be deserved and welcome. Has an uncanny knack for communicating her dark past through silent stares. And Mo’nique’s amazing speech toward the end of the film, which shows the human vulnerability behind her unspeakable cruelty, is a tour de force.
After the Precious screening Sunday night, the festival announced its awards at a Beans & Barley soiree. Jury prizes were nabbed by director Lee Isaac Chung for his portrait of post-genocide Rwanda, Munyurangabo. And local filmmaker John Roberts won the Jury Award for The Milwaukee Show for his animated short, Mary’s Friend. Precious won Allan H. (Bud) and Suzanna L. Selig Audience Award, which was tallied throughout the festival by audience voting. Another Milwaukee Show entry, the comic thriller, The Violinist, won a second audience award.
Come back Wednesday for my review of the touring Broadway musical Spring Awakening, which opens Tuesday at the Marcus Center.
