Date: 23 December 2009
Based on the book by Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees ventures into the life of a young southern girl from South Carolina, Lily, (Dakota Fanning) who searches for reasons as to why her mother abandoned her as a child. The film takes place during the Black Civil Rights movement in America, where President John F. Kennedy assigned the Black Civil Rights act of 1963 to become the law shortly after his assassination. We see the lives of many African Americans affected by the racism of the time, while they fight for their freedom and their rights. However, the film does not have a political focus. Instead it focuses on the lives three sisters, May, June and August (Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo, Queen Latifah), who help Lily and her maid Rosaleen find shelter in a bee farm while escaping Lily’s abusive and hateful father.
By Sukayna Al-Aaraji