Sweetness in the Belly

Definitely worth watching!! I rate this a 7 and wonder if I rated high enough.

Seems some viewers have a completely wrong impression of the story here and what it is trying to show. It depicts a very light-skinned British girl of 7 being left behind by her parents in Ethiopia, then raised by a group of Muslims. As she grew up, and studied the Koran, to her the skin color was not important. But when she as a young adult eventually is forced to leave Ethiopia for safety during the 1974 Ethiopian overthrow of dictator Haile Selassie and his government, and arrived in Great Britain, she soon found that she indeed received special treatment, compared to the native dark-skinned Ethiopians.

Add to that she had developed a relationship with an Ethiopian doctor who didn't escape when she did and a large part of the story here is her search for him and wondering if he survived.

Based on a novel, my wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library. Good movie because it treats a subject that seems to be happening somewhere in the world at any given time, people forced to leave their country because of turmoil and lack of safety. Dakota Fanning is good in the lead role.

To be honest, I expected more from this film. I felt this film fulfilled the value of the hollywood verse rather than fulfilling the story that this film wanted to lift. I really like how this film tries to raise family conflicts set in Africa, with Islam as its theme. But in some parts, I feel the interpretation of Islam here is messy when there is a Hollywood romance verse here. I mean, how can a woman for years adhere to strong holy teachings, but like collapsing when she meets a man (played by Yahya Abdul Maten). apart from that, i really like acting dakota fanning. The Arabic that Fanning does is practically perfect, and also, how she prays, and behaves as Islam.

Despite everything, the backstory that is lifted from the main character here is very interesting. it is very rare that we can find hollywood films that carry stories based on Islam. not a lot of cinematography and special scoring, but the story is quite interesting despite all the flaws and verses.

So? A white girl played the lead. Get over it everybody. How can it be that absolute dross gets thrown at us in spades and yet this gem practically went by unnoticed? I discovered this film by accident, and so glad I did. And then I notice nine reviews. Nine! And most of them negative. A tragedy.

I'm not Ethiopian so I can't say for sure how accurate this was, but a great story about something we hear little about. My Amharic is rusty too but Dakota seemed to be doing a bang up job. Well done to her. I would read the book it was based on.

I will admit, as an Ethiopian, I braced myself for offense when I sat down to watch this film. It is a bit unusual to see a white woman portray the Ethiopian refugee experience, but in all honesty, Dakota gives a sincere and worthy portrayal with a character that gives careful attention to her privileges. The circumstances surrounding the story and the other Ethiopian women are rich and authentic. You can see by her response to casting criticism, she does understand the heart of the story she is telling. It brought back memories for my parents as they watched so it was a worthy effort. Particularly her attempts at the Amharic language. 👌🏽 If your on the fence, I do reccomend giving it a look. I'm glad I did.