Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire
Seemingly trapped in a world of unspeakable horror, Precious the movie is a lot like Precious the lead character. Living with her abusive mother (played with effective malice by Mo'Nique) in 1987 Harlem, Clareece "Precious" Jones (newcomer Gabourey Sadibe, making a very impressive debut) has very little to be thankful for. Raped by her currently absent father, she already has one child fathered by him and another one on the way. Her mother hurls both insults and objects at her on a regular basis, filling their apartment with the sound of sadistic screaming.
Precious' life away from home isn't much better. Children at school and on the streets mock her because of her obesity, while the public education system fails to educate her. Precious is illiterate and her teachers seem unable to change that fact. From the moment she wakes up in the morning to the moment she falls asleep at night, Precious is a young woman beaten down by the world and the people who surround her. Director Lee Daniels doesn't spare any of the grimy details, immersing us in the disgusting, incestuous, and putrid terror that defines Precious' existence.
Adapting the story from a 1996 novel (the movie's full title is Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire), Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher find a way to navigate the depressing avenues of the narrative without ever giving in to sappy sentimentality. The story takes a potentially positive twist when Precious begins attending an alternative school, where she meets a loving and inspirational teacher named Ms. Rain (Paula Patton). But even as the narrative gradually adopts an optimistic tone, the transformation of movie and character is still done without a reliance on treacle.
Daniels deserves credit for steering his movie in an unexpected dramatic direction, but his handling of certain scenes is occasionally too heavy-handed to allow for the full force of the intended emotional impact. Gritty flashback sequences showing Precious' sweaty father raping her in sordid slow motion feel unnecessarily despicable. While the majority of the moments shared between Precious and her mother are honest and contextually important, the flashback sequences are hollow and poorly conceived. The terror of Precious' current home life is so real, so believable, that her tortured past would be best served as an unseen horror. The clumsy flashbacks add nothing to the already weighty conflict.
Like its titular character, Precious the movie endures and suffers a series of ups and downs, both in the varying plot occurrences and in the narrative execution. While some of Daniels' directorial decisions falter, such as the flashbacks, others soar with tender beauty. Whenever Precious finds herself in a truly terrible situation, which is often, she leaves her world behind and travels to a wonderful place built on imagination. She dreams of being in a music video or a choir and pictures herself walking down the red carpet with a handsome boyfriend by her side. Daniels directs these sequences with confidence and hope, while Sidibe lights up the screen, her face aglow.
During the imagined sequences, the movie's colour palette also brightens, allowing warm light to spill into the frame. This is in direct contrast to the greasy browns and yellows that dominate the real world sequences. Cinematographers Andrew Dunn and Darren Lew do an excellent job of making us fear the horrific reality that Precious is attempting to escape, while also making the dream world so deliciously enticing. The shifting colour palette is obvious, but it still packs a punch. That the juxtaposed imagery is used not only to add visual flavour, but also to reflect the protagonist's personal journey, makes the work by Dunn and Lew all the more commendable.
Precious is a strangely unique movie, one whose dramatic depth is more apparent when looking back at the complete package. There are many things to praise about the movie, such as the acting and the photography, but there are also things to condemn, such as the reliance on flashbacks and the occasionally awkward pace that disrupts the movie's narrative flow. But like the movie's slowly transforming protagonist, Precious the movie eventually comes out on top. Daniels' direction is very good and surprising supporting performances by singers Mariah Carey and Lenny Kravitz add to the exciting quality of the cast. The journey of Precious (both the movie and the character) is a harrowing one, but hiding in the shadows of its conflicting strengths and weaknesses is a special movie peering out of the darkness and into the light.
