I have to say, I really enjoyed this film! I'm so impressed that they got Vanessa Williams to star in this, she's just so beautiful and a talented actress! I really liked how she wears fashionable clothes like the green dress she wore at the beginning, it does really match her eye color!This film really does tell of the time when blacks and whites are separated from each other. It really does give a lump in your throat on how the whites were cruel to the black people and made them slaves. I hated the scene where the church of Henriette Delille had built for the poor slaves, was on fire. It makes you extremely angry, why were people that cruel? What was even more shocking, the 'master' raped his 12 year old slave. In my opinion on the scene he died, I wouldn't even bless the pervert, I wouldn't even touch him for what he did! I nearly cried in that scene, it makes me sick. Unfortunately there's more rapists out there today in this godforsaken world, I wish we lived a better world than this!Anyways let's move onto something positive, I loved how Vanessa Williams and Gil Bellows' characters relationship blossomed. I honestly wished in the end that Henriette went to France with her lover Dr. Gerard Gaultier. They were so made for each other, I don't understand why she didn't choose him. You can see that they loved each other 110%! I hate how movies don't show happy endings but anyways, at least she is helping the poor people to live and get them out of slavery. I loved this movie, I give this 8/10 because of seeing Vanessa Williams on this!

I didn't exactly know about this movie cause I was 4 when it came out and I'm 17 now. My mom got it from a friend and at first, i had only seen the beginning and never saw it to the end. That is because history movies sometimes gave me a creepy feeling cause it's like I'm going to a time and culture way different from mine and I feel like I'm there in the movie. I later saw the movie when I was older i think like 12 or something. I'VE BEEN IN LOVE WITH THIS MOVIE SINCE AND OFTEN TELL PEOPLE ABOUT IT! Vanessa Williams did an awesome job, of course. The costumes, the scenery, the people, everything drew me in. I'm so glad my mom got the movie.

Vanessa Williams is wonderful in this movie it is simple but complex at the same time. I think she was very believable and I cant wait to watch it again. She kinda scared me in the part were she got caught in the fire but they got her out and she was calm. Watch this movie it is really good. The whole movie keeps you wondering is this going to happen is that going to happen. At times it can be really sad and hurt you cause it gets you so into the moment like you are really there. I think she always does good in all her movies. I know she could probably get any part she wants because she can change into so many things like I seen her in Broadway and she played a witch as beautiful as she is that was good like everything else she does Vanessa Williams is the stuff.

Henriette, the mixed-race daughter of Jean Baptiste and Pouponne, teaches in a parish school in New Orleans. Some of her students are children of slaves, and it is not clear whether the masters have given permission.When Dr. Gerard Gaultier comes to take care of the poor of New Orleans, it's not hard to see what will happen. Even though he is white, he seems to like Henriette right from the start, though the question is how far a romance between them can actually go.Among the problems in Henriette's life: Her father abandoned her mother long ago and is getting married. Her mother is sick. Her sister Cecilia is pregnant by a white man who seems to want to marry her but can't in this environment. Henriette tries to fit into upper-class white society but is never really accepted.Frank Morgan is a cruel slave owner who treats girls as young as 12 as mistresses, and dislikes having to share his church with blacks.Henriette wants to become part of a convent, which most people believe is a ridiculous idea. She is chastized, along with others who work with her, for wearing what looks like a habit. But she is very determined to start a church of her own.Vanessa Williams did a good job here. I wouldn't say spectacular, but she effectively showed the drive and devotion of Henriette. Stacy Keach and Diahann Carroll were very good as her parents, and Carroll had a real challenge as her character's health went downhill.Eddie Bo Smith Jr. had the standout performance here as Jacques, one of Frank's slaves, a nice man who eventually becomes bitter, wondering if things will ever get any better.I personally found this movie kind of boring at first, too much of a 'chick flick', but the inspirational story makes it work.