Saturday, October 8, 2016

The Birth of a Nation Review

     In 1915 the world was greeted by a film titled "The Birth of a Nation," directed by D.W. Griffith. Upon its release it was met with both criticism and acclaim, and would go on to become the highest grossing movie of the time. The film was meant to glorify the KKK, and show them as the heroes that the United States needed. While the film's subject matter is certainly disturbing, the movie is generally considered a classic of the silent age based solely upon the film's technical prowess. Griffith included several cinematic techniques, transitions, and storytelling elements that were years ahead of their time. "The Birth of a Nation" is not for the faint of heart; personally, I found it to be one of the most difficult movies to ever sit through. But now, a little over 100 years later, we get something different. 2016's "The Birth of a Nation" is based off the true events of one of 19th century America's most important men, Nat Turner. In a time when race relation in America are not at their best, director Nate Parker tells the story of one man's fight for freedom and equality. But is it as good as I hoped it would be?
     Nat Turner was born on a plantation in the early 1800s, and spent his entire life on that same plantation with his family. From a young age, Turner seemed to have a fascination with books and reading. The wife of Turner's owner couldn't help but notice this, and taught him how to read. Turner grew up very religious, and when he got older he would take time to preach to the other slaves. Turner's master noticed this and capitalized on the opportunity, having Turner preach to other plantation's slaves in an attempt from their masters to calm them down. But after seeing how his fellow slaves were treated by men even more cruel than his own master, Turner decided enough was enough. 
     Going into the final quarter of 2016, "The Birth of a Nation" was my most anticipated movie left this year. To be honest, I think 2016 has been a rather lackluster year for movies. Compared to some previous years, there's hasn't been a movie in 2016 that I will remember vividly years down the line such as with last year's "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Ex Machina." When I first heard the early review for TBOAN, I was sure that it would be 2016’s saving grace. Finally after seeing the film, it might not have been as good as I was hoping but it still has its moments. Almost everything that "The Birth of a Nation" does best comes back to writer, actor, and director Nate Parker. Parker stars as Turner and does a fantastic job; a director staring in their own movie can sometimes get in the way of the movie itself, but Parker did a great job bringing Turner to life in one of the best leading performances of the year. He also did a great job adapting the powerful true life story into a solid script with some strong writing. The movie does a good job exploring some interesting themes regarding religion and the idea that it is better to die on your feet than live on your knees. While Parker has directed a short film or two, TBOAN is his feature length directing debut and he does a great job. You can tell he had a firm grip on the film, and attempted to be as ambitious as possible; he managed to put in several emotional, as well as disturbing moments throughout the film that really make you feel the slaves' bottled up anger. The only problem would be that in some of the transitions between scenes, huge amounts of time would pass with no indication. For future work, that's something Parker needs to address. While Parker was the backbone of the film, you have to give credit where credit is due. Parker may have been the standout, but many of the other actors gave some strong performances. And Elliot Davis behind a camera did a lot with what he was given for the cinematography. The designers behind the sets and the costumes did a good job with the authenticity; they help pull you into the time. I just wish they had a bigger budget; at times you can tell that this is a small budget film in the way things are designed. Sets are small, and the feel of the movie is less grandiose than a movie like "12 Years a Slave." Finally, the movie features a lovely soundtrack; both the original pieces and the previously existing ones ad to every scene in which they are used. Going into this movie, I had heard some criticism regarding the historical accuracy. I give a bit of leeway when it comes to historical accuracy in a biopic, they need a little wiggle room to actually make it into a movie; but with this movie, it's clear that director Nate Parker saw Nat Turner through rose colored glasses. Looking at the events leading up to the rebellion, it's clear that Turner was suffering from severe delusions of grandeur. He viewed himself as a profit, like Moses leading the Jews out of Egypt. He even launched the rebellion the day he thought he received a sign from God. Frankly put, the movie makes him seen a little less crazy. The movie also glosses over a lot of atrocities that he and the rebellion committed. When things kicked off, Turner and his fellow slaves killed literally every white person they came upon, including children. The movie completely glosses over the more unseemly parts of the whole event solely to make Turner look better. It reminded me of "American Sniper," where the film's creators ignored some of the more unpleasant parts of Chris Kyle's personality to make him look better. It's clear that Parker ignored the truly terrible parts of the rebellion because he knew it'd make Turner look like less of a hero. A movie can change the past to a certain extent; things don't have to be exactly like what really happened. But the second you change history to make the focus of your story come off as pitch perfect with few to no faults, you undercut the true story you're trying to tell. "The Birth of a Nation" is not a perfect film, it's not even as good as I hoped it would be; but by no means does that make it bad. This is one of the most impactful movies I've seen this year, and to many it will be one of the best. Whether you view Nat Turner as a hero or a killer is irrelevant, it's just about time that he gets his story told on the silver screen.

Pros: Beautiful cinematography, strong performances major actors, particularly great performance from Nate Parker, powerful true story, some very good writing, explores some interesting themes, authentic costume and set design, lovely soundtrack, several emotional and disturbing moments, strong direction from Nate Parker.
Cons: Skips out on some historical accuracy, some transition issues, clearly a low budget movie at times.

4/5 Stars

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