'Constellation' Is a Shining Star

The indie movie Constellation is a beautifully made movie about the power of love and forgiveness to overcome bigotry and family dysfunction. The multicultural ensemble cast features Zoe Saldana, Billy Dee Williams, Hill Harper, Rae Dawn Chong, Leslie Ann Warren and Gabrielle Union.

Union plays a woman in the Jim Crow South who falls in love with a white soldier. Her younger brother witnesses the pain she endures over not being able to build a life with the man she loves because of racial taboos. To escape the racist climate, the younger brother (later played by Billy Dee Williams) flees to Paris and becomes an artist.

Fifty years later, extended family reunites in Huntsville, Ala., for the funeral of Union’s character. Saldana (a few years before she hit it big in Avatar) plays Billy Dee Williams’ estranged daughter. Chong and Warren play Williams’ ex-wives and the mothers of his daughters. Harper plays Saldana’s ex-boyfriend, a globe-trotting photographer who tries to reconnect with her.

Over the course of several days while the family is gathered together for the funeral, deep-seated resentments are resolved and family members gradually come to understand one another.  

Constellation is a heartfelt film with subtle, nuanced performances and three-dimensional characters. It has the feel of a TV movie and I could have easily seen it playing on one of those “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentations. Although it was initially released in 2005, it has the look and feel of a story that is still very relevant.