Review: The Birth of a Nation
Nate Parker serves as actor, writer, producer and director in The Birth of a Nation. Personal controversies aside, Parker deserves some level of praise for this particularly ambitious and almost unabashedly impartial accounting of Nat Turner, a Virginia-born slave and Baptist preacher whose apocalyptic visions led to an uprising that resulted in the deaths of 60 white lives and the retaliatory killings of more than 200 black ones. Turner himself was hanged, his body flayed and dismembered, his skin sewn into relics, and his flesh churned into wagon grease so that he wouldn't have the opportunity for a legacy. In this age of #BlackLivesMatter, even the simple act of repurposing the title of D.W. Griffith's powerful but problematically racist silent masterpiece is a defiant palliative. Much of Parker's film operates as a corrective, but Parker's passion for his subject is undeniable, resulting in a stirring if sometimes overreaching effort.
In the opening moments of the film, young Nat is observed by a shaman or a voodoo preacher, who deems the boy a leader and prophet. For now, Nat is a slave who finds himself fortunate to be taken in by his preacher owner's wife (Penelope Ann Miller), who raises him to read and learn only the Bible and who takes pride as he begins reciting passages from the Scripture alongside the preacher. His good fortune takes a turn when the preacher dies and wills him to become a field hand, picking cotton with the rest of the slaves. Nat grows into a fine young man (now played by Parker), still favoured by the preacher's widow and sharing a friendly rapport with Samuel (Armie Hammer), the preacher's son. It's enough of a bond that Nat is able to convince Samuel to buy Cherry (Aja Naomi King) at an auction; Nat and Cherry soon marry and become parents.
Nat's awakening to the horrors inflicted upon other slaves develops as the new reverend (Mark Boone Junior) convinces Samuel to hire Nat out to other plantation owners as a visiting preacher. The reverend reasons that any thoughts of insurrection might be eradicated if the slaves are sermoned to by one of their own. As Nat and Samuel travel from one plantation to another, Nat bears witness to the cruel injustices experienced by his people. The brutal torture of a slave - whose teeth are chiseled out so he can be force-fed - lights a new fire within Nat as he implores the other slaves, "I pray you sing to the Lord a new song."
Yet what really accelerates Nat to rebellion are three acts: a vicious attack on Cherry by a band of slave-catchers; the rape of his friend's wife (Gabrielle Union) under Samuel's watch; and Nat's own whipping ordered by Samuel after Nat baptises a white man on the grounds of the plantation. The ensuing revolt is expectedly bloody and gruesome, with Nat confidently assuming the mantle of Avenging Angel and the clash itself recalling Braveheart in its rousing vigour and barbarism.
Parker does well in establishing the causal links as well as incorporating the more mystical propulsions of Nat's actions. Cinematographer Elliot Davis crafts some memorable images - the bare bodies of newlyweds Nat and Cherry illuminated by candlelight, a backward-tracking shot that begins with a butterfly on a boy's shirt and ends with a tableau of slaves hanging from a tree set to "Strange Fruit," and a near-hallucinatory image of the bare-chested Nat as both boy and man in the dark of night. Yet whilst the images are indelible, their underlying meaning can be a bit too heavy-handed. Take, for example, Nat's hanging which Parker stages like Christ's crucifixion, complete with Nat casting his eyes to the heavens and being touched by an angel.
It's moments like that which make one question if The Birth of a Nation is excellent because of its historical and cultural significance rather than as an actual film. Make no mistake, Parker has made a good film but it's not quite as good as it seems. As confident as Parker is in his handling, there's a monotony in the pacing that becomes more and more evident. He draws out some fine work from his actors, but a different actor in the role of Nat would have significantly benefited the character and the film. Parker portrays the different sides of Nat well enough, but he's not a nimble or substantial enough actor to convey the nuances or complexities within Nat. Nevertheless, The Birth of a Nation is a gut punch of a film, and worth a watch for its triumphs as well as its failings.
The Birth of a Nation
Directed by: Nate Parker
Written by: Nate Parker
Starring: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Mark Boone Junior, Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King, Esther Scott, Jackie Earle Haley, Gabrielle Union, Penelope Ann Miller, Roger Guenveur Smith
