Queen

Enjoyed the miniseries very much, especially the excellent cinematography, score, clothing design, landscape scenes, etc. The historical era is also excellent to explore. The drama does not try to gain converts, but is even-handed given the sensitive topics. I lowered my score because, even though it is a drama that is trying to appeal to a broad television audience, the actors were always far too well-dressed for 1850s. They were always mostly clean-shaven, with the women having clean, beautiful hair. Slaves wore dirty, tattered and wrinkled clothes but you never saw any dirty, worn-out clothes in this film. Lastly, the plot for the first half of the film before the outbreak of war is far too synonymous with the plot in the movie Mandingo (1975); practically an exact copy. I was shocked. Overall, Queen is very good.

The miniseries was good but Berry's performance was not one of a disadvantaged poor black slave, but rather like a slave that is slow, or mentally retarded. It would have did her well to read the Slave Narratives in preparation for her role. Yes slaves weren't educated and couldn't speak the white man's English well but they were smart, clever and intelligent. It was painful watching Halle Berry in this role and it took away from what could have been an excellent story. The other actors made up for this, but I kept wondering if the character of Queen was supposed to retarded. Great performances by Jasmine Guy who played the role with authenticity and Danny Glover was great, as was the actor playing Abner.

In the book, Annie's father was a white man; therefore Annie was a mulatto. Her daughter Easter was fathered by a white man, which made her a quarter white. Easter's daughter, Queen, was fathered by Jas. the young "massa". therefore Queen was only one eighth black. Halle Berry is half white which made her far too dark complexioned for the part and as a result, unconvincing, no matter how hard she tried. The whole theme of the book was that Queen looked white and was not accepted by the black people because of it. She was able to pass for white as long as she did not admit that she had been born a slave.

Another miscast role was Martin Sheen butchering the Irish accent. Were there no Irish actors available? I kept waiting for Mr. Sheen to deliver an Irish joke.

MOST annoying of all was the grammar - no plurals and missing verbs. "I black" "I with chile". Perhaps they spoke like this 150 years ago, but for modern audiences it would have been better to have modified the speech a little. As it was I found it irritating. I would recommend the book instead of the miniseries, which begins half way through the book.

Wow! Wait...Wait.WOW!

It is very interesting that a lot of the actors that played memorable characters in the film have pretty good careers today. I was looking at the list and I was like, "He was not in that film!" "WHAT".

Again, if you look at my other comments, you will know that I love epic films and this was another one my parents just bothered to record when it played on TV years ago. (I really need to thank my parents for taking the time one of these days.) Again, this is a film I last saw in 1998. I made sure I watched it when I left it, stupidly enough, so that I could remember the entire thing as long as possible. Halle was awesome, her attitude, body language, speech, she was made for this role, and I could say vice versa. This is the one movie that made me acknowledge the fact (when she was still Oscarless) that she indeed deserved, and would soon be getting an Oscar. She conveyed the passion and pain of her character's journey. Indeed, I cannot distinguish Halle from Queen in my mind, they are synonymous. It was well written, well casted, and well received by me. If you doubt me, take a look at the full casting list and you might be surprised. If you can, watch it!

I must add that the only reason why I left these two films behind is because I was so sure they were big here and would be easy to find/buy. I am so sorry I was wrong. It's just another reflection on America's media content choices. Films with history, meat, and bone often get neglected and relegated to the bottom feeders. I guess because they are educational to some degree...hey, don't hate, be honest, I think it's true.

This is the mini series version of Alex Haley's paternal side to his family (ROOTS covered the maternal side). The trials and tribulations this woman goes through are cringe inducing - racism from both her blood lines, sexism from practically every male with a pulse. Not an easy sit through - it is long and tedious and the leading lady's performance and horrible makeup really tried my nerves.

I tried to sit through this, really it did - but Berry's performance left much to be desired. Jasmine Guy was better than anticipated and well, it's Danny Glover who is consistently strong in every performance. The big question I have is this: why didn't they get Jennifer Beals for this? Queen was supposed to be so fair complected and Caucasian featured that she passed for white - what the heck is Halle Berry doing here? It is ridiculous to see her normally beautiful complexion covered in Kabuki like make-up and everyone walking around like this is normal and the cast really look strained trying to act like Halle Berry looks like a believable white woman. This leaves the credibility of the production in serious question.

I give it marks for trying, most of the stars are for Danny Glover, but overall - see it only if you have to for school but I recommend reading the book