Two Jews On The Birth Of A Nation

I went to this screening dreading the brutality I knew I was about to witness. Films about slavery and the holocaust always have the same affect on me…They wipe me out emotionally and no many how many times I see movies that deal with these horrific events, it’s still hard to fathom that ‘man’ could commit these atrocities.

Unfortunately, watching ‘The Birth of a Nation’ written, directed by Nate Parker, who also starred in the film, I felt strangely detached. I was not emotionally moved. I don’t know if this was caused by the fact that Parker did too many things and lost his objectivity, but the film just lacked the power that I expected it to have.

Nat Turner was a slave who became a preacher. He told his flock that he spoke with ‘the Spirit’ and his slave owner, Armie Hammer used him to appease other unhappy slaves on neighboring plantations.

In the beginning, his preaching was benign but that soon changes when his wife Cherry Ann (Aia Naomi King) is beaten and raped by several slave catchers, but what finally pushes him over the edge, is when he sees another woman, Esther (Gabrielle Union) get raped with Nat’s owner’s blessing. That’s it for him…Nat’s days of being a peaceful warrior for God are over.

The film is filled with white folks doing the most horrible, vile deeds that you’d expect to find in a movie about slavery, including Jackie Earle Haley, a so called policeman, whose sole job is protecting the slave owners from their slaves and preventing their escapes.

By the time Turner decides to rebel it’s almost anti-climatic. It seems like an after thought. Yes all these monstrous things happened, but Parker seems to be hitting you over the head with it. I kept flashing back to ’12 Years of a Slave’ which was one of the most powerful, moving films on this subject that I’ve seen in a long time; No wonder it won an Oscar.

‘The Birth of a Nation’ opens in theaters today, Friday October 7, 2016 and I gave it 3 bagels out of five.

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Joan and John Schwartz

Joan and John Schwartz are ex New Yorkers, living in Los Angeles. They are married and see a lot of films. They usually disagree but always tell it like it is. John is most famous for creating the cult classic films Faces of Death. He has also written for various prime time series and has written movies for both Showtime and HBO. In the world of reality television John has produced, written and directed over 450 segments for various magazine shows He has also written and Executive Produced several Prime-Time Specials. Joan has appeared on the New York Stage on and off Broadway…and has been in several Los Angeles theater productions as well.. Joan has been in several low budget films and at present she is busy writing screenplays with her husband, John.

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