The Secret Life of Bees (Blu-ray Disc, 2009)

Features Actors:Dakota Fanning, Paul Bettany, Jennifer Hudson, Sophie Okonedo, Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah & Tristan Wilds.
Running Time: 110 Min.
Rating: PG-13


In 1964 South Carolina, 14-year-old Lily (Dakota Fanning, War of the Worlds) lives with her abusive father (Paul Bettany, A Beautiful Mind) and the memory of a tragic accident that took her mother away. When their housekeeper Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls) is severely beaten on her way to register to vote, Lily rescues her and the pair run away. Guided by a scrap of paper left by her mother, they end up at the bright pink house of the Boatwright sisters—May (Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda), June (Alicia Keys, The Nanny Diaries), and August (Queen Latifah, Last Holiday)—who run a local honey farm. While Rosaleen bonds with the emotionally fragile May, Lily earns their keep by helping August with the bees. She grows fond of fellow worker Zach (Tristan Wilds, The Wire), a boy who dreams of defying racial expectations by someday becoming a lawyer. But when he and Lily leave the safety of the farm to see a movie together, they get a nasty reminder that the world outside is a dangerous place.




The Secret Life of Bees oozes with symbolism as thick as August's honey. Lily and Rosaleen blossom and grow like their namesake flowers—flowers like the ones that attract the bees kept by sisters named for the spring and summer months when bees are most productive. As for those title insects—so resourceful, industrious, dangerous, and fragile—bees come to stand in the story for everything from individual characters to the Civil Rights movement itself. Within the safety of their bright pink hive, Lily, Rosaleen, and the Boatwright women live and work in close community. Outside, however, there is danger from angry parents and racist Southerners who'd rather swat than get stung by change. Maternal imagery pops up everywhere, too, underscoring Lily's search for the truth about her mother—on honey labels, as a carved wooden statue, and in the relationships forged between Lily and her surrogate mothers.
The Secret Life of Bees is an uplifting tale of empowerment and self-determination, but it treads some well-worn ground. Films set against the backdrop of the struggle for civil rights carry an important message, but they also carry dramatic baggage that makes it hard to evaluate each on their own merit. The same is true of coming-of-age stories.

Fall in love all over with the movie version of Sue Monk Kidd's Secret life of Bees book.If you love this book you'll love to watch it come alive!Hope this helps you decide.Thanks for reading! :)