The Body Beautiful
6.5
This bold, stunning exploration of a white mother who undergoes a radical mastectomy and her Black daughter who embarks on a modeling career reveals the profound effects of body image and the strain of racial and sexual identity on their charged, intensely loving bond. At the heart of Onwurah’s brave excursion into her mother’s scorned sexuality is a provocative interweaving of memory and fantasy. The filmmaker plumbs the depths of maternal strength and daughterly devotion in an unforgettable tribute starring her real-life mother, Madge Onwurah.
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Cast
18 people
Madge Onwurah
Narrator (voice) Mother/Herself
Also in
Coffee Coloured Children
Sian Martin
Rosie Rowell
Narrator (voice) Daughter
Also in
Soldier Soldier
Family Affairs
Sian Ejiwunmi-Le Berre
The Daughter (as Sian Martin)
Known for
The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star
Brian Bovell
Young Man
Known for
Andor
Roald Dahl's The Witches
Maureen Douglass
Young Mother
Also in
Rocinante
Valentine Nonyela
Peter
Also in
Casino Royale
Young Soul Rebels
Louis Altinson
Linda Dobson
Richard Gray
Haley McKay
Also in
Coffee Coloured Children
Michael McKay
Also in
Coffee Coloured Children
Ngozi Onwurah Director · Jonathon Hirst Composer Anthony Quigley Composer
United States release October 3, 1991 · Produced in United Kingdom · Production British Film Institute
Production
BFI
Production
British Film Institute
Production
United Kingdom
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · October 3, 1991
Premiere · New York Film Festival
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Some details come from TheTVDB.