The Help is a 2011 American comedy-drama film adaptation of the novel
of the same name (2009) by Kathryn Stockett, adapted for the screen
and directed by Tate Taylor. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film is
about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her
relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America (the
early 1960s). Skeeter is a journalist who decides to write a book from
the point of view of the maids (referred to as "the help"), exposing
the racism they are faced with as they work for white families.
Set in Jackson, Mississippi, it stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia
Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Mike
Vogel, Mary Steenburgen and Allison Janney. Produced by DreamWorks
Pictures and distributed by Touchstone Pictures, the film opened to
positive reviews and became a box-office success with a gross of
$211.6 million[2] against its budget of $25 million.
In February 2012, the film received four Academy Award nominations
including Best Picture, Best Actress for Davis, Best Supporting
Actress for Chastain, and a win for Best Supporting Actress for
Spencer.[3] On January 29, 2012, the film won the Screen Actors Guild
Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Story
ibileen Clark (Viola Davis) is a middle-aged black maid who has spent
her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son.
Minny Jackson (Octavia Spencer) is another black maid whose
outspokenness has gotten her fired a number of times; she has built up
a reputation for being a difficult employee, but she makes up for this
with her phenomenal cooking skills.
Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) is a young white woman who has
recently moved back home to her family's plantation after graduating
from the University of Mississippi[4] to find that her beloved
childhood maid, Constantine (Cicely Tyson), has quit while she was
away. Skeeter is skeptical, because she believes Constantine would not
have left without writing to her.
Unlike her friends, who attended university to find husbands (and are
now all married and having children), Skeeter is single, has a degree,
and wants to begin a career as a writer. Her first job is as a
"homemaker hints" columnist in the local paper. With Constantine gone,
Skeeter asks Aibileen, the maid to her good friend Elizabeth (Ahna
O'Reilly), for her help in answering domestic questions. Skeeter
becomes uncomfortable with the attitude her friends have towards their
"help," especially Hilly Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her "Home
Help Sanitation Initiative", a proposed bill to provide for separate
bathrooms for black help because (as she puts it) she believes that
black people carry different diseases from white people. Amidst the
era of discrimination based on color, Skeeter is one of the few who
believe otherwise, and she decides to write a book based on the lives
of the maids who have spent their entire lives taking care of white
children.
The maids are at first reluctant to talk to Skeeter, because they are
afraid that they will lose their jobs or worse. Aibileen is the first
to share her stories, after she overhears Hilly's initiative, and
realizes that the children whom she has been raising are growing up to
be just like their parents. Her friend Minny has just been fired as
Hilly's maid as a punishment for Minny using the bathroom during a
thunderstorm (revealed by Aibileen to have spawned a tornado and
killed eighteen people: ten white, eight black), instead of going to
use the separate outdoor toilet. Hilly poisons all the other families
against Minny, making it impossible for her to find other work, and
her daughter is forced to drop out of school to find a job as a maid.
Minny initially declines to participate in Skeeter's book research,
but later agrees to share her stories. Aibileen helps her find work
with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain), who is married to a rich
socialite (Mike Vogel), but is an outcast from the other society
ladies, because she was born into a working-class family and her
husband is Hilly's ex-boyfriend. Also, unlike Hilly, Celia seems to
treat Minny with respect.
Skeeter writes a draft of the book, with Minny and Aibileen's stories
in it, and sends it to Miss Stein (Mary Steenburgen), an editor for
Harper & Row in New York City, New York. Miss Stein thinks there may
be some interest in it, but requires at least a dozen more maids'
contributions before it can become a viable book. Believing that the
book will only be publishable during the Civil Rights movement, which
she believes is a passing fad, Stein advises Skeeter to finish the
book soon. No one comes forward, until Medgar Evers is assassinated in
Jackson, Mississippi, and Hilly's latest maid is brutally arrested
(for attempting to pawn one of Hilly's rings, to pay for her twins'
college tuition, after Hilly had refused to give her a loan). With
racial tensions running high, the maids realize that Skeeter's book
will give them an opportunity for their voices to be heard, and
Skeeter suddenly has numerous stories to include. Minny shares one
last story with Skeeter and Aibileen, which she calls the "Terrible
Awful," to ensure that no one will reveal that the book was written
about Jackson, Mississippi. As revenge for being fired and accused of
stealing, Minny bakes a chocolate pie and delivers it to Hilly. After
Hilly has finished two slices, Minny informs her that she has baked
her own feces into the pie. Minny tells Aibileen and Skeeter that if
they add that part into the book, Hilly will try to prevent anyone
from figuring out that she made her eat human feces and will convince
the town that the book is not about Jackson. The book is almost
finished, except for Skeeter's own story of being brought up by
Constantine. Skeeter manages to find out what had happened to
Constantine, when her mother, Charlotte (Allison Janney), finally
explains that she fired her in order to save face during a reception.
Soon afterwards, feeling guilty about the incident, Charlotte had sent
Skeeter's brother to bring Constantine home from Chicago, Illinois,
where she was living with her daughter Rachel, but he discovered that
she had died, not long after leaving Jackson.
The book is accepted for publication and is a success, much to the
delight of Skeeter and the maids. She shares her royalties with each
of the maids who contributed, and is offered a job with a publishing
company in New York City. She tells her boyfriend about the job and
the book. Revolted by her ideas of racial equality, he immediately
breaks up with her. Later in the afternoon, Hilly hatches a plan to
get rid of Aibileen as Elizabeth's help, by falsely accusing her of
stealing silver. Aibileen denounces Hilly as a godless woman and tells
her that she will never have peace if she continues her vindictive
ways, leaving her in limbo. As Aibileen tries to convince Hilly and
Elizabeth of her innocence, Elizabeth's daughter, Mae Mobley, arrives
and pleads with her not to go. Elizabeth is forced to accept the
firing of Aibileen, and Mae Mobley cries by the window, shouting for
Aibileen as she leaves to start a new life.
This movie will be discussed on 12th August 2012 at Vivekananda Hall, Anakapalli, at 5-30pm. Anakapalli Film Society (AFISO) will conduct the programme. All are invited.
Thank you very for encouraging goo movies.
**********************************************************************************Plot
Michel (Martin LaSalle) goes to a horse race and steals some money from a spectator. He leaves the racetrack confident he was not caught when he's suddenly arrested. The inspector (Jean Pélégri) releases Michel because the evidence is not strong enough; Michel says it's not a crime to have cash.
Visiting his mother, Michel meets Jeanne (Marika Green) who begs him to visit his mother more often. Jacques goes on a date with Jeanne and invites Michel along. But after stealing a watch, Michel leaves Jacques and Jeanne at the carnival. While in a bar the inspector asks Michel to show him a book by George Barrington about pickpocketing at the station on a convenient morning, and Michel goes down to the police station with it. Once there, the inspector barely glances at the book. Michel goes back to his apartment realizing that it was all just a ruse to search his apartment. However, the cops failed to find his stash of money.
Michel's mother dies, and he goes to the funeral with Jeanne. Later, the inspector visits Michel in his apartment, and tells him that his mother had had some money stolen, but later dropped the charges, probably figuring it was her son who stole the money. The inspector then just leaves, and Michel decides to leave the country.
Returning to France, Michel goes back to steal at the horse track, where he is caught redhanded by the police. Jeanne goes to visit him in jail. On one such visit, Michel realizes he is in love with her.
Cast
§ Martin LaSalle – Michel
§ Marika Green – Jeanne
§ Jean Pélégri – Chief Inspector
§ Dolly Scal – The Mother
§ Pierre Leymarie – Jacques
§ Kassagi – 1st Accomplice
§ Pierre Étaix – 2nd Accomplice
§ César Gattegno – An Inspector
A thorough discussion on the film will be conducted at Sri Vivekananda Hall, Beside Dr. Satyavathi Hospital, Near RTC Complex, Anakapalli on 29th July 2012 at 5-30pm. Everybody is invited.
