Precious (BD)

I have to admit that “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (2009) is the most-intense film I have seen in the past ten years. It has been a few days since I watched the movie for the first time, and I am still trying to soak up its emotional impact. The movie is not merely a depiction of a black family living in a project housing, but, rather, it is a study of a continuous struggle and journey of one individual that touches overarching universal issues such as parental abuse, incest, disease, and poverty. The director, Lee Daniels, who is best known as the producer of “Monster’s Ball,” turns in a masterful directing job and gets fine performances from his actors to create a film that is a memorable and artful experience. Surprisingly enough, even with its relatively depressing subject, “Precious,” with a budget of $10 million has grossed over $50 million at the box office. Not only has “Precious” wound up being ranked high in critics’ lists all over, but a few critics have declared it as the best picture of 2009. I would not disagree with them.


The movie begins when a sixteen-year-old student, Precious (Gabourey Sidibe), is suspended from the school after it is discovered that she is pregnant again. Precious lives in a project apartment with her abusive mother, Mary (Mo’Nique), who is unemployed, and their survival depends on welfare checks. As we see on numerous occasions, Mary is disrespectful to Precious with her continuous, abusive bickering. In the meantime, Precious is looking for an alternative schooling option to which Mary objects vocally. Then, she meets Ms. Blu Rain (Paula Patton), who teaches her how to read and write. Soon after, Precious gives birth to a son, her second, which results in a domestic fight with her mother. She leaves her apartment so she can take care of the kids. Along the way, she meets a social worker, Mr. Weiss (Mariah Carey), who comes to know about Precious’s abuse. Through Mrs. Weiss’s help, Precious confronts her mother on the abuse and why she did not do anything to stop it.


It is very difficult to absorb all the themes the movie touches upon during its duration without getting overwhelmed. Starting off with the parental abuse, incest, and deadly disease, the movie is one hell of an emotional ride. The movie is driven by debut emotional performances by Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique that are bound to leave you breathless. It is unbelievable that Gabourey Sidibe in her first role could deliver such an astonishing performance as an emotionally tormented child subjected to constant abuse for sixteen years. Her pride and self-esteem have been squashed to a point of no return. More so, she has been betrayed by her mother, and yet she finds strength on a daily basis to keep her going. In fact, Precious’s only outlet from her abusive mom is school. She has built an emotional façade around her that gives her the strength to deal with her mother and the abuse, but at the same time it makes her affable to the social setting involving her teacher, students, and the social-worker. Precious’s character requires a high degree of emotional variations in exhibiting pain associated with the abuse. Not only does Sidibe convincingly display an image of a depressed teenager, but she successfully presents her concerns as a sixteen-year-old mother with a slight ray of hope. There is no doubt that Gabourey Sidibe delivers a breakthrough yet restrained performance by a debutant in the last decade.


Balancing the emotional performance by Gabourey Sidibe, we have a mesmerizing performance by a veteran actress, Mo’Nique. As mentioned by the actors and director in the featurette, the interaction between Precious and Mary at times got really so intense they had to be deliberately separated, with occasional time-outs. Having said this, Mo’Nique convincingly portrays an abusive parent who is unkind to Precious at all times. She despises her presence and makes Precious’s life a living hell. The mother-daughter interaction is brutally intense right up until the final meeting with the social worker. With her compelling performance, Mo’Nique won the Oscar award in the Best Supporting Actress category for 2009.


Looking at an obese black woman on the DVD cover and movie posters, one would immediately think that the film is about the depressing condition of the black minority population. In fact, it is very easy to associate to common stereotypes attached to the blacks. However, upon closer inspection that is not the case at all. The film constitutes universal social issues in the form of an incestuous relationship and parental abuse that are rarely exposed outside the four walls of the home. This kind of perverse behavior, as shown in “Precious,” transcends the color line and not just the black community. In addition, the film is not a representation of what goes in the black community. The director, Lee Daniels, was initially embarrassed to show this movie at the Cannes film festival because he genuinely believed that audiences would perceive “Precious” as a movie about the black community.


The film also addresses psychological dissociation, class, and gender issues. The dissociation is specifically evident in the scene where Mary’s boyfriend is having sex with Precious. As a defense mechanism to her physical suffering, Precious fantasizes that she is a beautifully dressed singer performing live on stage. In another fantasy sequence, as Precious is going through her family photographs, she visualizes a pretty blonde girl in the mirror. It is her idea of a conventional beauty that questions the very basis of her own beauty. Having seen her mother living in poverty all her life, with their survival dependent on paltry welfare checks, it is clear that Precious does not want to follow in the footsteps of her mother or be like her. Precious gathers herself emotionally and physically to take care of her kids as well as stay educated, with the hope that she will eventually exit out of poverty and lead a life of dignity.


The director, Lee Daniel, should be credited for balancing all the issues in the right proportions and for inspiring moving performances from its two leads. Given another director, I am sure the incestuous aspect of the film with the ensuing rape of Precious by her father could have been projected as the central theme of the entire story. Instead, Daniel, bit-by-bit, sensitively presents a full view of Precious’s world, mixing the hopelessness of her situation with strength and hope. He mainly chooses close-ups to highlight emotions expressed by Mary and Precious, which results in tantalizing intensity in all the scenes.


It is hard to find fault this kind of effort. However, be forewarned that none of it is happy stuff. The movie so peels away every possible surface concerning human emotions and behavior that by the time you are done watching it; you will be fully drenched emotionally. More so, “Precious” gives you little space to maneuver your thoughts, and that results in an enormous mental exhaustion after witnessing the plight of Precious. I felt Lee Daniels could have provided a forced departure of our thoughts with the non-consequential stuff, although he tries a bit to relax the audience with the fantasy segments. Still, considering the subject matter, the film may be too overwhelming for some viewers. In the end, “Precious” has a lot going for it, and it never slows down in its emotional intensity.


Video:
Lionsgate presents this movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded in an AVC format at a healthy bit rate of over 30 Mpbs. “Precious” looks remarkably good on this Blu-ray release. As expected, the detail is better in the Blu-ray release than on the DVD, a fact that is evident in the opening shot on the bridge. The skin tones are warm and lifelike, with solid blacks. There is a perfect balance between the daylight and nighttime scenes, with no trace of black crush. Most of the movie is shot indoors, but the image stays sharp during the entire running time. The contrast is good and consistent throughout.


Audio:
For this release, we get a lossless DTS-HD Master 5.1 audio track. Being a dialogue-driven movie, the rear channels are seldom utilized; however, they do kick in during the fantasy scenes. Apart from this, dialogue is clear and consistent. Overall, the audio provides a satisfying sonic experience. Also included is the option to view the movie with English or Spanish subtitles.


Extras:
Starting off the extras, we have a featurette, “From Push to Precious” (1080p, 15 minutes), in which the director, Lee Daniels, and the author, Sapphire, discuss how the movie was conceived from the novel. They provide their thoughts on the character of Precious and her survival mechanism. The author started writing poetry after seeing the students and thus the novel was created.


We have another featurette, “A Precious Ensemble” (1080p, 18 minutes), in which Lee Daniels and the members of the production team provide their insight on the process of casting actors for the movie. The real challenge in the casting was to find the right “Precious” actor. The director wanted to cast a teenager who could deeply move audiences in her portrayal of Precious’s character.


Following this featurette, we have interviews with Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, “Oprah & Tyler: A Project of Passion” (1080p, 9 minutes), the executive producers of this film. Both people provide their thoughts on how they were moved by the story of Precious and its broader issues.


Up next, we have a conversation between author Sapphire and director Lee Daniels (1080p, 8 minutes). Sapphire recalls his interaction with the students. She specifically mentions that students, who are creative and can visualize something different, are the ones who can make it through their emotional and domestic turmoil. She talks about how she deliberately mixed fantasy with realism. The students realized their potential with an ability to learn and read that eventually changed their perception of the world.


We also get a deleted scene, “The Incest Survivor Meeting,” that shows Precious talking about HIV and how she hates her parents.


Next, we have an audition segment with Gabourey Sidibe (1080p, 2:33 minutes) in which she is talking to Ms Rain about her life.


Following this, we have a short segment called “Reflections on Precious” in which Lee Daniels, Gabourey Sidibe, and Paula Patton talk about their own take-aways from the film and its character of Precious.


Finishing off the extras, we have a wonderful commentary by director Daniels. In the opening segment, he recalls the frigid weather conditions and how difficult it was to shoot the scarf on the bridge. He talks about how frustrated his assistant director was with the thought of getting real kids for the opening school scene. He further provides insights on Precious’s apartment and how it resembled the apartment he grew up as a child.


Finally, the disc includes the original theatrical trailer.


Parting Thoughts:
“Precious” is complex and emotionally exhausting, but at the same it is inspiring and rewarding. Brilliantly written, “Precious” contains a pair of dazzling performances by Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique that must be rated among the best in the last decade. At a deeper level, “Precious” is not a movie about a black family but about the universality of social issues like incest, parental abuse, illiteracy, and poverty. This movie could have easily been a train-wreck with the incest aspect in its storyline, but director Daniels manages to balance everything without excessively emphasizing that single issue. Precious never backs down in spite of all the issues, and her character is a true testament to people like her. It is this reason that makes the entire viewing experience worthwhile.


For another take on this movie, please see Chris Long’s review <a href= “http://www.dvdtown.com/review/precious-based-on-the-novel-push-by-sapphire/theatrical/7584”>here. </a>