Running a bit behind this year, but thank goodness for
screener season to help
Cinemablographer
catch up on award season hopefuls and some quality titles.
The Birth of a Nation
(USA, 120 min.)
Dir. Nate Parker, Writ. Nate Parker, Jean McGianni Celestin
Starring: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aunjanue Ellis,
Penelope Ann Miller, Jackie Earle Haley, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King
 |
Nate Parker as Nat Turner in The Birth of a Nation.
Photo courtesy of Fox Searchlight Pictures. |
Nate Parker certainly has potential as a director, but
The Birth of a Nation doesn’t quite
merit the thunderous hype from Sundance. As first features go, its ambition
outsizes its finesse as Parker’s story of Nat Turner, a Virginian slave who led
a rebellion against the ruthless plantation owners and slave drivers of
Southampton County, as the filmmaker’s inexperience in writing and direction
tells Turner’s saga with a mix of powerful, underdeveloped, and stilted scenes.
Parker’s film borrows heavily from other dramas that cover similar terrain, for
lines of dialogue, like an auctioneer’s sales pitch for slaves, seem to be
ripped verbatim from
12 Years a Slave,
while the haunting fantasy images of Parker and co. caked in white dust are
straight from
War Witch. As Parker
leads the
Gangs of New York bloodbath
and the film climaxes with an exaltation for Turner, Parker’s admiration for
this historical figure is strongest in his performance as the rebellious
preacher.