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
