Precious is a truly remarkable film mainly for what is not on the screen rather than what is. I was very apprehensive about seeing this movie. The subject matter is as disturbing as anything I can recall in the last little while. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe plays Clarice "Precious" Jones, a 16 year old junior high school student who is sexually abused by her father and physically and emotionally abused by her mother. She has no friends in school and is constantly picked on for her obesity. She already has one child fathered by her own father and as the movie begins, we soon discover there is a second on the way. She lives in a hell few can imagine and the thought of going into the world with her seemed daunting as a viewer.
But this is where director Lee Daniels earned his best director Oscar nomination. During the times when a horrible instance of abuse is about to happen, we cut to the fantasy world Precious inhabits during these unspeakably awful times. Suddenly we are transported to a red carpet movie premiere where adoring fans call out for autographs from Precious. These fantasy sequences play out is rich vibrant colours which serve as a start contrast to the dull muted tones we see in her reality. This first person POV coping mechanism shields the audience as much as it does Precious herself. And they establish another important element without which the movie would not work – hope. Despite all that is wrong with her life we get the sense that Precious still holds out the faintest bit of hope that there is a better life out there.
So to answer the question – is this movie hard to watch? At times yes, but not as much as you would think.
The bulk of the story, set in Harlem in 1987, involves Precious going to a special school called "Each One Teach One." Here they take illiterate girls and bring them up to a level where they can acquire their GED. Even the decision to go to this school is tortuous for Precious. We get the sense that she is bright and likes school and yet is still unable to read or write. The reason soon becomes apparent when we meet Mary, her monster of a mother played by Mo'Nique. Mary not only frowns upon schooling for Precious, she is violently opposed to it. The very mention of attending the school sends Mary intro a screaming rampage where she tells Precious "School ain't going to help none, get your ass down to Welfare!"
Remarkably, Precious attends the school anyway and we soon see her starting to read and write in her journal. She is forming connections with her classmates and teachers and we are thrilled to be going on this journey with her. But Daniels is cognisant to not let us forget of the harsh realities that still exist for her. Just when we feel like we're watching the feel good story of the year, we get doused with the icy waters of her circumstances. Her schooling gets interrupted when she goes into labour with her father's child. She is now faced with a choice of giving up the baby and going back to school or keeping the baby and making it on her own. For someone who wants to be a good mother to her baby, this is not an easy choice.
Some of the most powerful moments in this film exist between Precious and her mother. Mo'Nique plays Mary with a hatred and bitterness for her own daughter that is unfathomable. I used the term "monster" before but really there is no other word that applies. Mary was perhaps the most terrifying and intimidating screen presence not named "Darth" or "Sith". Mo'Nique won the Golden Globe for this performance and if she doesn't win the Support Actress Oscar, a criminal investigation should be launched immediately. There is one scene in particular that is chilling. Precious brings her new baby home to Mary and Mary wants to hold him. We know she hates Precious for "stealing her man" so we fear for the safety of the baby. This scene serves as an example of how dramatic tension can be created with character rather than action sequences. It was as tense as anything I can recall in the theatre.
Mo'Nique is not the only excellent supporting player in this film. Daniels has a knack for finding people who can inhabit a role and make us forget the famous person playing them on the screen. Most noteworthy is the supporting performance turned in by Mariah Carey. Yes, THAT Mariah Carey. The movie was two-thirds of the way through before it clicked in for me who she was. Here's a sentence I never thought I'd write. Mariah Carey was very good in this film. Maybe there really is a hero that lies in her. Joining Carey is Lenny Kravitz who turns in a nice performance as Nurse John.
I thought Daniels struck a nice tone with ending, something that with a story like this is not easy at all. (TINIEST SPOILER WARNINGS HERE) This is not a happy ever after story but we are left feeling upbeat and positive at the end. The dragon Precious has to slay may seem insignificant compared to other films, but in this story we are left with the feeling that she just climbed Everest.
This will sound like cliché but this movie really is a story of the triumph of the human spirit.
Circumstances Under Which You Should See This Movie: You are a carbon-based life form.
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