January 2, 2010: Precious
I’m already afraid that if I look at this review six months from now, I’ll kick myself for being so light on this movie. I was extremely wary about seeing Precious because it sounded like exactly the kind of typical and manipulative and emotional heartstring-tugging story that people eat up, despite it being dreadful when viewed with a cool head. With these low expectations in place, it turned out to be much better than I expected, although my opinion is more likely to decline in retrospect rather than to improve.
Another darling of the festival circuit in 2009, and with celebrity backing to boot in the form of Oprah Winfrey’s fawning, Precious is a story of a 16-year-old girl in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York City in the 1980s, living in poverty with her abusive mother, and pregnant with her second child by her father. Precious has dreams of improving her situation, as seen in vivid dream sequences, and she’s got real potential at school, but her mother keeps breaking her down in order to keep the authorities from finding out the truth about their family’s incestuous secrets, so as to keep the welfare cheques coming.
After getting transferred to a small alternative school, Precious gets into a good groove with a new teacher who cares, and new peers who like and respect one another. Eventually the truth about her home life has to come out, and once we hear the story we realize that it’s much more complex than we had originally suspected.
This film is ferocious and harsh, but it doesn’t go over the top or even really get melodramatic. I can entirely believe that this type of situation happens, although I don’t want to think about it. There is some surprisingly brutal imagery, but it’s appropriate to the story. What I haven’t yet figured out is just how baldly manipulative it is, versus what real substance there is to the events. That’s the part that might sink in during the upcoming months, and it’s why I haven’t characterized the movie as “good”.
There is early awards buzz for this film, but it has already fizzled to some extent and will probably continue to do so. I’ll be fine if it gets a Best Picture nomination, particularly considering that the field is widened to 10 nominees for the first time this year, but I won’t be too happy if it wins. Either way, Mo’Nique’s supporting performance as Precious’ mother is just about a lock for an Oscar, and deservedly so. Her controlling and heartless treatment of her daughter is clearly driven by serious emotional pain, and when we find out the reason, it is abhorrent but at the same time understandable if not at all justifiable. These are severely damaged people, and breaking the cycle is the only way out. Precious seems to instinctively know that, and she has the inner strength to make it happen, despite the long road ahead.
Manipulative or brilliant? Somewhere in between.
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