Honey of a film is a sweet success

Opening with a shocking confession from its teenage protagonist -"I killed my mother when I was four-years-old . . ." - The SecretLife Of Bees is an affecting and well crafted rites of passage storyset in racially divided '60s South Carolina.

Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood adapts Sue Monk Kidd'sacclaimed novel for the big screen with aplomb, stepping back to atime when the colour of a person's skin determined his or herstation in life.

Beatific scenes of sisterly solidarity and honey gathering in sun-dappled landscapes are beautifully captured by cinematographerRogier Stoffers.

These moments of pastoral splendour contrast starkly withoccasional explosions of violence, including racial and child abuse,and the death of one character guaranteed to pluck the heartstringsof most of the audience.

Prince-Bythewood's script is perhaps a little emotionallymanipulative and sickly sweet like the bees' golden nectar.

The long-standing conflict between the young heroine and herbullying father is also resolved far too neatly.

However, strong performances from the ensemble cast - notablyDakota Fanning as the girl crippled by guilt over her mother's death- cast a heady spell.

Plucky teenager Lily Owens (Fanning), is one of the few people intown to take people as they come, happily treating her nursemaidRosaleen (Hudson) as her equal.

When the servant endures a beating at the hands of local bigotsand is consigned to a hospital bed with bruises and broken bones,Lily vows to spirit her friend away to a safer place, leaving behindher hard-drinking father T Ray (Bettany).

Rosaleen and her diminutive companion seek refuge in aneighbouring community, finding lodgings with the Boatwright sisters- August (Latifah), May (Okonedo) and June (Keys) - who produce someof the state's finest honey.

The sisters, it transpires, are directly linked to Lily's deadmother and as the young woman explores her tortured past, she learnsto harness the courage to stand up for what she believes in, andeven stand up to T Ray.

As chick flicks trumpeting female empowerment go, The Secret LifeOf Bees is a hugely enjoyable and heartfelt diversion.

Fanning anchors the cast with another emotionally raw portrayalof tainted childhood, crying her heart out on cue.

Latifah impresses as a clucky mother hen and Okonedo and Keys areboth excellent in wildly different roles.

Damon Smith