The Secret Life of Bees received a lot of positive buzz leading up to its release. It is an adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling 2002 novel of the same name, adapted by Gina Prince-Bythewood. Despite the positive reviews and good word of mouth surrounding the release, I cannot say I felt a strong desire to see it. Sure, I put it ahead of the likes of Beverly Hills Chihuahua, but I guess that really doesn't say much.
As fate would have it, an opening appeared in my busy schedule and I found myself with an opportunity to travel down my "to be seen" list and settled on spending some time learning about this supposed life that the bees keep secret. As it turns out, I am glad I made the trip. No, it is not perfect, but it is a strong and affecting feature.
It is a tale set in the South of 1964 against the backdrop of the civil rights movement. It is not a story that comes across as terribly realistic, but that is not a problem because what it lacks in realism it makes up for in feeling genuine. What I mean by that is the story feels real. This is essentially a coming of age story told in a parable form.
While 1964 is where there bulk of the tale takes place, it really begins ten years earlier. It is a fuzzy scene that is told from the perspective of a four-year-old Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning). We see her father come in and catch her mother packing things. A gun is drawn by her mother and promptly dropped. The young girl picks up the gun and accidentally shoots her mother dead. It is a tragic event that leaves many questions and painful memories as she grows older.
Ten years later we pick up the story of Lily as she struggles with not knowing anything about her mother or why she wanted to leave, not to mention her cruel father (Paul Bettany). Her only friend is the housekeeper, Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). Rosaleen puts up with Lily's father because she will not abandon the young girl. Everything comes to a head one night when Lily is out among the rows of peach trees (the business the family is in) in an attempt to feel closer to the mother she never knew through a few items she had secreted away. Her father finds her, misunderstands the situation, and punishes her. The next day Lily and Rosaleen travel to the nearby town so that Rosaleen can register to vote under the new Civil Rights Act. However, before they can get there, they are accosted by a group of racists who brutally beat Rosaleen, resulting in her (yes, her) arrest.
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