Mark Childress & Bandaras Masterpiece

I was tangled in a divorce in 1999 and 2000 and somehow missed this .. I just watched it for the first time and am sitting here in almost stunned silence. The juxtaposition of a woman - a bright, shining, frivolous woman tied to a monster who kept her pregnant with 7 kids in 13 years seizing her freedom via murder and the dark, not so subtle imprisonment of the black race with the boot of the white race across its throat while they fight for their freedom is absolutely brilliant - and Childress did an amazing job of taking his novel to the screen without losing a shred of its dark beauty and exploding innocence. Bandaras - on a first time out in the director's chair has coaxed, cajoled and massaged brilliant performances from every single actor from the most fleeting role to the lead roles - Meatloaf as the slimy Sheriff, Morse as Dove - the quiet, stalwart big brother, Black as the orphaned and way too bright for his tender age (13)-- young man coming of age in the war zone that was the deep south in 1965 - I was his age -raised in the south and remember '65 so clearly -- the short but mesmerizing role of the judge played by veteran actor Rod Steiger (and yes, judges really rule their courtrooms that way in the south in the 50s and 60s)- another all to brief role, that of Nehemiah played by John Beasley was the only disappointment for me - I felt it needed to be a bit more developed, to the shockingly strong performance by Griffith - perhaps for me the most surprising role - as Bandaras played to her strengths - her softness, her femininity, her determination - we saw her the way he saw her and not as the fluff character we were accustomed to - it's surprising to me that he has not made more of a name for himself as a director (unless this cast just simply melded beautifully with little help from him - a not so likely scenario) ... and you don't lose the message - the underlying golden thread of freedom because the editing is so flawless ... I cannot wait to settle back tonight and watch this again - I know there are bound to be small nuances that I overlooked or that I want to spend more time pondering -- it has, in one viewing, made its way to my top 10 favorite movies. Although I respect Black's decision not to change his accent and to only take roles where it plays well I wish he would rethink this so more roles would be open to him ... he is such a great actor, I feel like he is short changing himself.