Alex Haley's Queen

Buy This Item Alex Haley's Queen by Warner Home Video  Available from Amazon  $19.99  on 9-23-2008     There are two sides to every story, the saying goes. For Alex Haley, one side was roots, the towering chronicle tracing severn generations of his mother's family. The othe side comes to the screen in Alex Haley's Queen, the remarkable history of a paternal side of the author's family. David L. Wolper (Roots, The Thorn Birds) is the executive producer of this acclaimed adaption of the story Haley was working on when he died. Halle Berry plays Queen, daughter of a slave (Jasmine Guy) and a plantation owner (Tim Daly). During the turbulent decades of the antebellum South, the Civil war, Reconstruction and beyond, she searches for a home in the two cultures of her heritage - and at times is shunned by both. Rejection and hate are no match for her unconquerable will, however. Ann-Margret, Danny Glover, and Ossie Davis are among the many stars of this poingnant, uplifting final chapter of the Haley legacy. Reader Reviews Before I watched the 2nd part of the DVD, I read Queen's autobiography and merged that with what I remember from seeing it in childhood. It explains a lot. I wondered how the DVD could only be 283 minutes. Well, the answer is this: all of Queen's suffering was removed from the DVD. Basically, when Queen left the Jackson plantation, she had to survive anyway she could. Many times she would walk on the road in tattered clothes and shoes hungry. The blacks wouldn't help her because she looked white and the whites wouldn't help her because she was white trash. One time, Queen was so hungry that when somebody threw some stew on the ground, she ran to the ground and ate it. She was like a rabid animal with rabies. While in the city passing as white, a soldier tried to have sex with her. She thought it would stop him to tell him she was black. Instead, he brutally attacked her. By the time Queen had met Abner's father, she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Then, she hooks up with these white Christian women who want to save the souls of black women. The women were crazy and tried to steal Abner. Queen was forced to run again. When we see Queen on the fairy heading up North, she literally had been starved to death, raped, had her child stolen from her, and seen the love of her life burned to death. NO HUMAN could withstand all of that and not go crazy. By releasing this DVD without the suffering scenes, you have basically done an injustice to this story. I highly suggest the makers re-release this DVD with the entire saga. Pros: Halle's acting was the BEST I had ever seen. I felt her pain when she got burned and lost her mind. I felt her pain whenever she asked a white person: "how much white you got in you, my ancestors are Irish, I may be 'negra' but you likely got a little bit of 'negra' in you too." Halle was OUTSTANDING. Cons: Casting was more on point in Queen than in Roots: The Next Generation. The only issue I had was Halle's makeup; it was poorly done in parts of the movie. Overall, I recommend the movie in its ENTIRETY; cut short it makes no sense.

Alex Haley's Queen Available from Amazon Price: $19.99 Updated on 9-23-2008.

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