The Secret Life of Bees (film)
Encyclopedia
The Secret Life of Bees is a 2008 American drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...

, adapted from the novel of the same name
The Secret Life of Bees
This is about the 2002 Sue Monk Kidd novel. For the 2008 film, see Secret Life of Bees The Secret Life of Bees is a 2002 historical novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd. It received much critical acclaim and was a New York Times bestseller...

 by Sue Monk Kidd
Sue Monk Kidd
Sue Monk Kidd is a writer from the Southern United States, best known for her novel, The Secret Life of Bees.- Biography :Kidd, who was born in Sylvester, Georgia, graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.S...

. The film was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Gina Prince-Bythewood is an American film director and writer. Her primary credits as a director include the films Disappearing Acts and Love & Basketball, produced by Spike Lee and starring Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan, which won her the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay.Bythewood...

 and produced by Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...

, with his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...

, as executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

. The film is noted for Queen Latifah's critically acclaimed performance as August Boatwright. The film was released in North America on October 17, 2008 and in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on December 5, 2008.

Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the tale of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning
Dakota Fanning
Hannah Dakota Fanning , better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web...

), a 14-year-old girl who is haunted by the memory of her late mother Deborah Owens (played by Hilarie Burton
Hilarie Burton
Hilarie Ross Burton is an American actress. A former host of MTV's Total Request Live, she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The CW drama One Tree Hill for six seasons...

). To escape her lonely life and troubled relationship with her father T-Ray (played by Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany
Paul Bettany is an English actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, including A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code...

), Lily flees with Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Hudson
Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...

), her caregiver and only friend, to a South Carolina town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by the intelligent and independent Boatwright sisters — August (Queen Latifah
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...

), May (Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo
Sophie Okonedo, OBE is a British actress, who has starred both in successful British and American productions. In 1991, she made her acting debut in the British critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama, Young Soul Rebels...

) and June (Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

) — Lily finds solace in their mesmerizing world of beekeeping and develops a romance with her new friend Zach (Tristan Wilds
Tristan Wilds
Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series The Wire and as Dixon Wilson on the CW drama series 90210.-Life and career:...

). She learns about female power as the Boatwright sisters show her their black Virgin Mary, her mother's past and much more.

Plot

The movie opens in 1964, during the Civil Rights Movement. "I killed my mother when I was four years old, that's what I knew about myself. She was all I wanted and I took her away. Nothing else much mattered," says Lily's voiceover.

In the night, Lily sees many bees in her room and tells her father, but T-Ray yells at her to go back to bed. Frustrated, Lily runs into their peach tree orchard and digs up a box she buried there. The box contains her mother's gloves, a small photograph of her mother, and a flat wood carving of the Black Madonna
Black Madonna
A Black Madonna or Black Virgin is a statue or painting of the Virgin Mary in which the Virgin Mary is black. The term was especially applied to those created in Europe in the medieval period or earlier...

. Lily puts on the gloves, and holds the photograph close to her stomach. While Lily lays staring at the stars and talking to her mother's spirit, she hears her father calling. Hurriedly, Lily takes off the gloves and slips the items back into the box and starts to rebury it. While she is buttoning her blouse, her father approaches her. He accosts her, simultaneously searching for the anonymous boy he assumes Lily is out in the dark with. As there is no one else, T-Ray takes Lily home.

The next morning, Rosaleen, the housekeeper surprises Lily with a cake for her 14th birthday. As T-Ray enters, Rosaleen states that she is going to take Lily into town to buy her a training bra. T-Ray reluctantly hands her money and sits to eat the breakfast Lily cooked for him. Lily asks him to tell her about her mother as her birthday gift, but he says very little, muttering "Happy birthday," as he walks out of the room.

When Rosaleen and Lily walk downtown, they are confronted by three racist men who insult Rosaleen, and ask her if she can spell her name. Rosaleen pours her jar of tobacco spit to spell out her name on their feet. She is beaten up and arrested. After T-Ray and Lily get home, T-Ray grounds Lily to her bedroom and he and Lily argue, prompting T-Ray to tell her that her mother left them both and that she didn't care for either of them. When Lily calls him a liar, he again tells her to stay in her room. Lily waits until he is gone before she writes a letter saying "People who tell lies like you should burn in Hell. Don't bother to look for me." After setting the note on the table, she grabs the bag she has packed and goes to the hospital "colored ward" to find Rosaleen. They run away to a town where Lily's mother was thought to have once lived, called "Tiburon". They find a honey jar with the same picture of the Virgin Mary that Lily had. When they ask who made the honey, they are lead to the house of August Boatwright and her sisters, May and June. May had a twin, April, who is revealed to have died during their childhood, leaving May permanently traumatized and empathetic to the point of being overwhelmed, her condition makes her have difficulties distinguishing others' problems from hers. She sees everyones' problems as her concern and she has difficulties coping with her"extra problems" Lily lies and says that she is an orphan and Rosaleen is a nanny, and that they have no place to stay. August offers to let them help with the honey in exchange for shelter, much to June's dismay.

Lily experiences growing up in their household and, for the first time ever, lives with a caring family. June has a boyfriend named Neil, who is trying to marry her, but she always refuses. Lily questions August as to why she uses "black" Mary pictures. She claims that she was sent by God to help African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

s have peace and equality. When Lily is introduced to the local church, Lily blacks out when the memories of the night her mother died begin to come to her. Lily discovers a wall outside of the house that has little pieces of paper stuffed between the holes. It was built for May after April died. August claimed that they were psychically linked to one another and were like a single person. After April died, May become very emotional and easily broken down by sad situations. She would write all the things that troubled her and put them into the wall.

Lily and a boy, named Zach, who works with the bees become friends. On the ride to town to deliver honey Lily confides in Zach the truth of their situation and the reason why she came to August. He gives her a notebook because she claimed to want to be a writer. They decide to watch a movie together but Lily sits in the "colored" section. This incites a racist mob who kidnap Zach and call Lily names for associating with him out of choice. Zach's mother and the Boatwright family are very worried and concerned. June and August decide not to tell May of Zach's disappearance for fear of what it would do to her fragile mental state.

Incidentally, Zach's mother comes to the house to pray before the statue of the Black Madonna in the living room and runs into May before reaching it. She instead confides in an unknowing May who subsequently goes into shock. It is later discovered that her upset and dismay led her to drown herself by placing a large rock upon her chest and laying down in a shallow section of the river by their home. She writes a suicide note to August and June, claiming that she was too tired of carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, and that she would be much happier with her sister and parents in Heaven. Soon after her death, Zach returns, albeit bruised and distraught. After her funeral, August and June slowly begin to recover from their losses, with June even finally agreeing to marry Neil, whom she had broken up with in a fit of indecisive anger and fear.

Lily shows August the picture of her mother, and August instantly recognizes her as Deborah, Lily's mother. As August and Lily discuss Lily's mother, Lily confesses that she, while trying to help her mother, wound up killing her. She also confesses her belief that Zach's disappearance was all her fault, as well, so she needs to leave, convinced it is best for everyone that she leave since she is unlovable and destroys all that she comes across. Lily breaks down crying and runs to the honey house, where she breaks several jars. August finds her and gives over the things that her mother left when she went back to get Lily, though Lily doesn't believe her. Lily receives her mother's old comb, pin, a piece of poetry, and a picture of her mother with baby Lily. This shows that Deborah did love her daughter.

Later on, T-Ray comes to the Boatwright home looking for Lily. When he sees Lily wearing her mother's pin, he mistakes her for her mother for a second and proceeds to grab and drag her out of the house, all the while telling her she can't leave him. After August shows up to calm the scene, he unwillingly gives August permission to take care of Lily for as long as she wanted to stay there. As T-Ray drives off, he admits that the day Deborah left, she wasn't only coming back for her stuff, but coming back for Lily. He says he lied because she wasn't coming back for him.

Lily's voice-over states that she thought, as T-Ray drove off saying "Good riddance", he was really saying "Lily, you'll be better off here with all of these mothers".

Lily is shown writing the contents of the entire story into the notebook that Zach gave her, and she puts it in May's wall. She walks off into the honey house as the scene fades to black.

Cast

  • Queen Latifah
    Queen Latifah
    Dana Elaine Owens , better known by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American singer, rapper, and actress. Her work in music, film and television has earned her a Golden Globe award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Image Awards, a Grammy Award, six additional Grammy nominations, an Emmy...

     as August Boatwright
  • Jennifer Hudson
    Jennifer Hudson
    Jennifer Kate Hudson is an American recording artist, actress and spokesperson. She came to prominence in 2004 as one of the finalists on the third season of American Idol coming in seventh place...

     as Rosaleen Daise
  • Alicia Keys
    Alicia Keys
    Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

     as June Boatwright
  • Dakota Fanning
    Dakota Fanning
    Hannah Dakota Fanning , better known as Dakota Fanning, is an American actress. Fanning's breakthrough performance was in I Am Sam in 2001. As a child actress, she appeared in high-profile films such as Man on Fire, War of the Worlds, and Charlotte's Web...

     as Lily Owens
  • Sophie Okonedo
    Sophie Okonedo
    Sophie Okonedo, OBE is a British actress, who has starred both in successful British and American productions. In 1991, she made her acting debut in the British critically acclaimed coming-of-age drama, Young Soul Rebels...

     as May Boatwright
  • Paul Bettany
    Paul Bettany
    Paul Bettany is an English actor. He has appeared in a wide variety of films, including A Knight's Tale, A Beautiful Mind, and The Da Vinci Code...

     as T-Ray Owens
  • Hilarie Burton
    Hilarie Burton
    Hilarie Ross Burton is an American actress. A former host of MTV's Total Request Live, she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The CW drama One Tree Hill for six seasons...

     as Deborah Owens
  • Tristan Wilds
    Tristan Wilds
    Tristan Paul Mack Wilds is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Michael Lee on the HBO original drama series The Wire and as Dixon Wilson on the CW drama series 90210.-Life and career:...

     as Zach Taylor
  • Nate Parker
    Nate Parker
    Nate Parker is an American actor and musical performer who has appeared in The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, and Pride. In his recent roles, he has performed alongside Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and Terrence Howard. Parker has overcome turbulence and turmoil in his life both as...

     as Neil
  • Shondrella Avery
    Shondrella Avery
    Shondrella Avery is an American actress.-Career:Avery began her career as a Stand Up Comic. She, alongside, with her family produced four different "work out," spots for up and coming...

     as Greta

Production

Production began on January 7, 2008, in Lumberton, North Carolina
Lumberton, North Carolina
Lumberton is a city in Robeson County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Robeson County. Lumberton, located in southern North Carolina's Inner Banks region, is located on the Lumber River...

. and ended a few months later. The film was screened in September 2008 at the 33rd Annual Toronto International Film Festival
2008 Toronto International Film Festival
The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival, was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. This 33rd annual festival was from September 4 to September 13, 2008...

, and had an October 17, 2008 theatrical release. A world premiere clip was released on June 17, 2008 on the Borders
Borders Group
Borders Group, Inc. was an international book and music retailer based in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The company employed approximately 19,500 throughout the U.S., primarily in its Borders and Waldenbooks stores....

 website.

Marketing

The first trailer became available on August 19, 2008. It is available on Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies
Yahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...

.

Reception

The Secret Life of Bees received mixed reviews. According to Rotten Tomatoes (which gave it a rating of 58%), the critical consensus was "The Secret Life of Bees has moments of charm, but is largely too maudlin and sticky-sweet." Writing in the New York Times, reviewer A. O. Scott
A. O. Scott
Anthony Oliver Scott, known as A. O. Scott , is an American journalist and critic. He is a chief film critic for The New York Times, along with Manohla Dargis.-Background and education:...

 thought the film to be "a familiar and tired fable", but Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...

 found it "enchanting".

The movie was #3 at the North American box office for its opening weekend with $10,527,799. As of December 13, 2008, the film has made $47,270,658 in the United States and Canada. The movie won the awards for "Favorite Movie Drama" and "Favorite Independent Movie" at the 35th People's Choice Awards
35th People's Choice Awards
The 35th People's Choice Awards, honoring the best in popular culture for 2008, was held on January 7, 2009 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by Queen Latifah in her third straight year as host, and was broadcast on CBS...

.

The film also garnered seven NAACP Image Award
NAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....

 nominations, which include Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture (Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning), Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture (Nate Parker
Nate Parker
Nate Parker is an American actor and musical performer who has appeared in The Secret Life of Bees, The Great Debaters, and Pride. In his recent roles, he has performed alongside Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker and Terrence Howard. Parker has overcome turbulence and turmoil in his life both as...

), and Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture (Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, and Sophie Okonedo). The movie won the Image Award for Outstanding Motion Picture.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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