The Birth of a Nation
Nat Turner: "Brethren, I pray
you sing a new song. Sing praise in the assembly of the righteous. Let the
saints be joyful in glory. Let the high praises of God be in their mouths of
the saints and a two edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance on the demonic
nations and punishments on those people to bind their kings with chains!
Dishonor have all his saints! Praise the Lord! Praise the lord! Sing to him a
new song!"
The
Birth of a Nation is directed by Nate Parker (directorial debut) and stars
Nate Parker as Nat Turner, Armie Hammer as Samuel Turner, Penelope Ann Miller
as Elizabeth Turner, Jackie Earle Haley as Raymond Cobb, Aja Naomi King as
Cherry, Aunjanue Ellis as Nancy, Colman Domingo as Hark, Esther Scott as
Bridget, Mark Boone Junior as Reverend Zalthall, Gabrielle Union as Esther,
Roger Guenveur Smith as Isaiah, Katie Garfield as Catherine Turner, Jason
Stuart as Joseph Randall, Jayson Warner Smith as Earl Fowler, Dominic Bogart as
Hank Fowler, Kai Norris as Jasper, Chris Green as Nelson, Kelvin Harrison Jr.
as Simon, and Tony Espinosa as Young Nat Turner.
Pre-Civil War America; slavery was a
popular business among white people in the southern states. The true story of
Nat Turner begins when as a child he notices little differences as to why he is
treated so differently by people, more specifically white people: because he is
a slave. Growing up, he learns to be literate and becomes a preacher. Nat,
commanded by his white childhood friend/master, is taken to different
plantations around where he lives to preach to his fellow slaves. He does so
because white masters want someone of their kind to help them "calm
down" and not to rebel. Throughout his journey of preaching, Nat sees the
cruel torture and gross habits of what white people do to black people,
especially to his friends and family. Unfortunately, if anyone knows the story
of Nat Turner, he starts an uprising of black slaves who slaughtered around 55 to
65 white people (men, women, and children). His story is a reminder of what
slavery can do to a person; any person on whichever side.
Let me get one thing out of the way: the
alleged crime that Nate Parker was tried for is not going to influence me in
any way from the movie. My review isn't the time or the place to have the
conversation of a disgusting act that may or may not have happened. I mainly
just want to focus on The Birth of a
Nation instead. What's ironic is that the connection of the director's
alleged past actions isn't too different from what happens in the movie. But by
God, is this movie powerful as hell. The
Birth of Nation takes a part of history that we haven't seen enacted on the
big screen: Nat Turner's Rebellion. The controversial stain in American history
is prevalent in today's society, even if it's sort of under the table racism. I
believe that if someone has a voice, it has to be heard, but the nature of
slavery doesn't really call for that and I can sympathize for Nate Parker. I'm
not going to sit here and write how much I understand the reasoning behind an
insurrection that killed a number of people because I honestly don't. The same
goes for today's society. I can't empathize, but I can sympathize. That's what
this movie does and it goes for it. I have no doubt that some people will have
a different opinion on how much preaching, no pun intended, Nat Turner does in
order to get the message across to us in just how bad slaves had it back then.
I'd tell those critics that every book, every part of history always sends the
same message of slavery being a bad thing. Human nature now is always attracted
to what abolitionists did so that slaves could be free. In going along with
that idea, I don't think people, including expert historians, really have a
clear understanding of just how bad slaves were treated. I guess it's just one
of those things that you won't understand until it's experienced: you can't
empathize, but you can sympathize. I'm by no means a professional in American
history or sociology, but I do know that the majority of people in the United
States , or in the world, for that matter, know the abuse that slaves had. I
can vouch for how well the film let's you feel this because of how well the
acting is too. Nate impresses me the more I think about it. He acted in,
directed, and had written the script for The
Birth of a Nation. There is one specific moment that happened to Nat's wife
where she is lying in a bed after she had been raped. A long well timed shot of
him crying over his wife's body while she is reciting a prayer is so moving
that I, honestly, had a tear in my eye. It was a heart wrenching point for Nat.
You could see it in his eyes just how bad he was hurt, not to mention his wife.
Films like 12 Years A Slave, Glory, Amistad, and Django Unchained
(even with Quentin Tarantino's mark) are some of the only well known films that
have been released in theaters in the past couple of decades dealing with the
issue of slavery. This is why I truly believe that The Birth of a Nation is an important film to be seen in the midst
of racial tension today.
While its importance and the admiration
for putting this movie out there now is perfect, The Birth of a Nation shows flaws in the narrative. Things just
happen all of a sudden. What I mean is that sometimes there is no build up to
an event or turning point of some sorts. I'm not saying it should be
predictable, but there should be growing tension for that certain turnaround. Nat's
relationship with Sam Turner suddenly falling apart should have had more of a buildup.
At the beginning, it seemed like Nat and Sam, as young kids, were friends.
While it looks that way, 22 years later, Sam is Nat's master, being protective and
lenient with him. Then when Sam realizes that the "Turner" name could
be well known to a lot more people, he becomes aggressively harsher to
Nat. It's almost to the point where you
were childhood friends with someone, kept hanging out with them for 22 years,
they hadn't changed much besides mature with you, then one day they turn 180
degrees and act like a total dick and bully you. What the hell is up with that?
That may be a longer analogy than I wanted it to have been, but you get the
point. Anyways, totally climactic moments happen mainly for the sake of showing
brutality. What's unfortunate about these parts is that by the end, the act
where the rebellion actually is formed, looks and feels amazing. Why
unfortunately? Well it's because the rebellion is only in the last 20 or 30
minutes while the rest of the film is just set up so that the rebellion could
actually happen. Yeah, it's Nat's story, however it's very cinematic telling of
it. For sure, a film being too cinematic isn't always a bad thing. The Birth of a Nation is based off of
history though. The filmmakers (really just Nate Parker) should be inclined to
show people a wider look into what else, besides Nate Parker's desire for vengeance,
made all of this possible. It sounds like I'm looking for a history lesson. I'm
not. I'm just wanting more of a build up for an event that shaped American
history. The Birth of a Nation could
have been handled a little better, concerning the storytelling.
What I absolutely loved about The Birth of a Nation is its devotion to
show the audience a little bit of pre-Civil War American history that most
people don't really know about. There are clear blemishes that Nate Parker
makes, but as a first time director for a feature length film? Great job! He
definitely has the potential to make films that allow people to think and feel
well long after seeing the movie. That's a skill that many filmmakers seek to
have. If he just works on how to develop the depth of his stories, I think he
can really prove himself to be as great as Roman Polan- Whoops! That almost slipped
out.
4.0/5
PRO
- Important moment in history captured on film
- Acting is powerful
CON
- Narrative flaws in build up
- Relies on brutality and look of the movie a little too much
The Birth of a Nation
is rated R for disturbing violent content, and some brief nudity
Click here to watch the
trailer
The Birth of a Nation
is in theaters now
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