The Wedding (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Wedding | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Charles Burnett |
| Produced by | Doro Bachrach |
| Written by | Dorothy West Lisa Jones |
| Starring | Halle Berry Eric Thal Lynn Whitfield |
| Music by | Stephen James Taylor |
| Cinematography | Frederick Elmes |
| Editing by | Dorian Harris |
| Release date(s) | February 22, 1998 |
| Running time | 135 min |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Wedding is a 1998 television miniseries directed by Charles Burnett. Based on a novel by Dorothy West, it stars Halle Berry, Eric Thal, and Lynn Whitfield, and was produced by Harpo Productions. The story touches on the subjects of marriage, race, prejudice, and family in 1950s Martha's Vineyard.
[edit] Plot
Shelby (Halle Berry) returns home to 'The Oval' to wed her white fiancé, Meade Howell (Eric Thal). They are not readily accepted by her mother, but in the end she understands. Shelby later meets Lute McNeil (Carl Lumbly) and questions her marrying Meade. After a racially induced incident at a local restaurant, Shelby confesses to Meade that she doesn't want to spend the rest of her life defending their relationship and asks him to give her time.
Meanwhile, Shelby's mother Corrine (Lynn Whitfield) is battling her own demons within her marriage. With flashbacks the viewer sees that her husband Clark married her not in love, but for looks. Corrine discovers that her husband is having an affair and planning to leave with the other woman when she finds tickets in his coat pocket. She burns the tickets in the bathtub and confronts him with her true feeling about their marriage later in the film.
Later when Lute's wife refuses a divorce, Lute in a rage forces her out of their home and accidentally hits his daughter with his car. After experiencing this event Shelby feels that she 'finally can see who Lute really is' and turns her heart back to Meade. The two marry in the end.
