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Susan Granger’s review of “Anne Rice’s FEAST OF ALL SAINTS ” (Showtime TV)

Set in 1840s New Orleans, Anne Rice’s melodramatic mini-series depicts the intriguing yet little-known gens de couleur libre, or the free people of color, a dazzling yet distraught society caught between black oppression and the white world of privilege before the Civil War. The story revolves around two families, both headed by Philippe Ferronaire (Peter Gallagher). While Philippe has two children with his resentful plantation heiress-wife (Jenny Levine), he also has a ‘placage’ liaison with a colored woman (Gloria Reuben) by whom he has another family, living in a splendid townhouse. Pivotal to the tale is Marcel (Robert Ri’chard), his golden-haired, green-eyed, bi-racial son who is attempting to ascertain his social position as an adult. Through a cabinetmaker (Ossie Davis), Marcel learns of his ‘gens de coleur libres’ ancestry and frustration when he is forbidden to marry his beloved (Bianca Lawson) because her guardian (Ruby Dee) has made her a ‘placage’ arrangement with Philippe’s brother-in-law (Alec McClure). Meanwhile, Marcel’s rebellious, light-skinned sister Marie is frustrated in her pleas to marry the son (Jason Olive) of a mortician (Ben Vereen). Director Peter Medak juggles a lot of black history and a huge cast, including Eartha Kitt, effective as an ominous voodoo priestess. And the dramatic fulcrum rests on young Robert Ri’chard’s facing his father’s abandonment, his mother’s betrayal and his sister’s corruption. The formal quadroon balls are fascinating, revealing the intricate French social structure based duplicity and shame. But this is adults-only viewing since there’s a graphic rape scene. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Feast of All Saints” is a complex, intriguing 6. It premieres on Sunday (11/11) and Monday (11/12) at 8 PM on SHOWTIME TV.