The Help

I am sorry that in a country of my origin we do not know how to make such beautiful films about our past. The formal side of textbook-perfect Hollywood filmmaking is merely a means of telling a curious story which, especially today, with Barack Obama on the American throne, is of enormous importance and historical value. Perfectly cast, costumed and directed actors – basically every character and performance is absolutely excellent, without the need to scream and dramatize or depress the audience. Or to try to look particularly profound, as The Help is inherently profound thanks to its story. It is also amazing due to its subtle delivery. I went to the theatre more out of duty than genuine interest, expecting to see another “Oscar-winning template full of hysterical women and racial issues that don’t concern me” and instead got the nicest movie experience of the past year. There wasn’t a dry eye in the cinema. (25/01/2012)

Despite the fact that Skeeter's story openly appeals to emotions through its narrative, soundtrack, and gradually revealed small details, I am surprised by how straightforward it actually is. There is no hiding of the main theme in a variety of subplots, no treading water. From the first significant scene, it delivers a clear message at a fast pace and easily maintains it for over two hours. As a result, the triple catharsis feels even more impactful. Perhaps if there had been a more definitive, slightly more fateful conclusion, I would have been fully satisfied. In that case, I felt that I could have handled an additional five minutes of voiceover in a slightly distant future during the end credits. Nevertheless, The Help won me over not only with its storytelling power but also with its flawless casting, even in the smallest roles. (20/01/2012)

Yeah, this is the kind of politically correct, high-minded Oscar safe bet where pretty much all the black characters can be compared to the greatest philosophers in history thanks to their human (popular) wisdom, but I can’t help it, I really liked it. In its 146 minutes, it has charm, is entertaining, and has good performances, direction and script. It was nice, but at the Oscars I will root for someone else. (02/12/2011)

An above-average soap opera that, through a sequence of lightweight episodes (not a single scene fully conveys how serious the situation in the South really was), capitalises on the myth of progressive young people who made the United States a better country in the 1960s. The story with a big heart is stuffed into a hermetically sealed bubble conveying the contemporary socio-political context to the trapped characters only through television and radio. The film refuses to take into account what happened in the real world, just as the white ladies refused to acknowledge their servants’ status as human beings enjoying full rights. The Help is even more consistent in denying the existence of bad, bad things than the similarly simplified Precious, unlike which The Help offers a likable white protagonist for the white audience to identify with. I welcome the effort to make a women’s film, though melodramatic only in moments and not in its overall structure, and I respect the need for a purgative spectacle that turns a humiliating defeat into a proud victory, but to accept the simplification of a serious historical subject into almost family entertainment with all of the ideological perversity concentrated into a single ultra-bitch strikes me as supremely conformist. 55% (26/01/2012)

Almost a full rating. The Help is a film with a very strong story and a premise that has played a significant and unsavoury role in the history of the United States, yet I think it could have been executed in a much stronger and more cinematically imaginative way than Taylor did. It has everything, from brilliant actors to Newman's harmonious music, and great sets, yet it’s somehow dull and for a good part of its 140 minutes it pretends to be a gripping human drama rather than actually being one. I felt a bit as if the director was thinking more about the members of the Academy than the ordinary audience and followed a fixed and very popular template in Hollywood. But on the other hand, it works beautifully, and in tandem with all the wonderful actresses, his efforts to move and impress with the serious premise are almost 100% effective, or at least I was perfectly at home with his narrative after the slower start, when the characters begin to emerge beautifully. Unfortunately, the expected climax was somewhat disappointing, and the rush of classical sentimentality and excessive naive moralising made me groan unhappily. But in spite of its flaws and weaker moments, this was another unforgettable film that can make even lumberjacks cry just by looking at the face of the main character...Too bad. 4.5* (20/12/2012)