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The Courage To Love

2000, Movie, NR, 0 mins

The Courage To Love: Review

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Don’t let the made-for-TV atmosphere turn you away from this one; there’s unexpected depth and substance beneath the flimsy period-drama veneer. The story is set during the 1800s in New Orleans, a cosmopolitan city where many cultures converged and many blacks rose to prominent social positions, escaping the rigid racial servitude prevalent across the antebellum South. Interracial relationships were not uncommon. Though not often sanctified by legal marriage, it was possible for a black woman to enjoy the prestige, accoutrements and a wife-like status while being mistress to a wealthy white man. Based on a true story, Vanessa Williams portrays Henriette Delille, the mulatto daughter of Baptiste (Stacey Keach), a rich white entrepreneur and his black mistress (Diahann Carroll). The uncharacteristically progressive social bubble of New Orleans is burst as Civil War strife encroaches, and Henriette is suddenly thrown into poverty when her father dumps her mother for a more socially acceptable catch. Her whole world turned upside down, Henriette rebels against the racial hypocrisy that left her destitute, and sets out to right society’s wrongs as a nurse in a charity hospital for the poor. Here she falls for Gerard (Gil Bellows), a dashing and morally upstanding white doctor, who will prove his love by marrying her; an act of defiance that could destroy his career. Henriette loves Gerard passionately, but his parents will never accept the match and their marriage would subject her to constant assault from uppercrust white society. It is a difficult challenge to explore the complexities of race and slavery in 19th century America, and this film succeeds admirably in addressing the controversial topic with a palette far more vivid that just black and white. CAST: Vanessa L. Williams: Henriette Delille Gil Bellows: Gerard Gaultier Diahann Carroll: Pouponne Stacy Keach: Baptiste Karen Williams: Julie Gadin Lisa Bronwyn Moore: Marie Alicot David La Haye: Father Rousselon Cynda Williams: Cecelia Delille Eddie Bo Smith Jr.: Jacques Graeme Somerville: Paul Cartier Kevin Jubinville: Frank Morgan Susannah Hoffman:Anne Morgan Jean-Louis Roux: Bishop Blanc Lise Roy: Mother Superior Raven Dauda: Betsie CREW: Executive producers: Gord Haines, Jacques Méthé, Emily Gerson Saines, Vanessa L. Williams Producers: Stéphane Reichel, Jean Desormeaux, Ron Ziskin Director: Kari Skogland Writers: Heather Hale, Toni Ann Johnson Cinematography: Jonathan Freeman II Film Editor: Isabelle Lévesque Original music: Christopher Dedrick Casting: Nadia Rona, Claire Walker Production Design: Linda Matheson Art Direction: Jean-François Campeau Costume Design: Linda Matheson leave a comment --Rachel Liebling
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