A Mother's Undying Love
Artist & Author | Near Mt. Baker, WA | 07/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This 'G' rated movie is unforgettable for anyone who knows what it is to love a child, especially an adoptive child. A kindly - no, a saintly - black woman finds an abandoned white baby boy near her very remote homestead and takes him in and raises him as one of her own children. It is not until about twelve years later that the 19th Century South African Census authorities discover it. Since a white boy went missing in the forest nine years before, they assume this is the boy and take him from the loving Fiela and place him with his 'real' family.
This family exploits him and thinks of him as little more than slave labor for their failing farming venture. Meanwhile, Fiela is beside herself from the loss of her white son and leaves no stone unturned to try to find him. However, she is black, and of no status in the white society. From her behavior, her palpable grieving for her son, both my wife and I felt almost as if we'd lost a son that way! It takes more than ten years for everything to resolve itself, but when the movie ends you'll fell very satisfied. Of the 1700+ live-action movies I have dealing with children, there is no mother who surpasses Fiela in her love for her child. It is, simply, a tangible love that will touch your heart."