Recipient of the 2009 Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic, the Audience Award: (U.S. Dramatic), and A Special Jury Prize for Acting, "Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire" lands at the Toronto Film Festival as one the Gala Presentations program.
Set in Harlem in 1987, it is the story of Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a sixteen-year-old African-American girl born into a life no one would want. She’s pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother (Mo’Nique), a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically. School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write.
Precious may sometimes be down, but she is never out. Beneath her impassive expression is a watchful, curious young woman with an unclear but unshakeable sense that something more exists for her. Threatened with expulsion, Precious is offered the chance to transfer to an alternative school. Precious doesn’t know the meaning of “alternative,” but her instincts tell her this is the chance she has been waiting for. In the literacy workshop taught by the patient yet firm Ms. Rain (Paula Patton), Precious begins a journey that will lead her from darkness, pain and powerlessness to light, love and self-determination.
The joy in Precious is when she lets us into her rich fantasy life, and while the hardship of this story is prominent, dramatic, genuine, and painful to witness, one can’t close ones eyes to it, in hopes of something better for our protagonist. Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe gives an amazingly affecting performance with director Lee Daniels encouraging her to shine in moments of hope and resigned stoicism. As painful and seemly unchangeable circumstances surround her, Sidibe is quiet revelation.
Mo’Nique’s portrayal of Precious’s abusive and violent mother is like the shock of a hot a slap in the face, showing us a side to the usually bubbly comedienne, unseen until now. Daniels direction is relentless in showing us the grimy, painful circumstances of Precious’s world. There is nothing forgettable about this raw, vibrant and resoundingly hopeful film; it will be vividly etched in your memory for hours after you leave the theater, if not days and years.
