Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising, which the topic of
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
TRAILER AND TEASER
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
7 October 2016 (USA)Also Known As:
El nacimiento de una naciónFilming Locations:
Savannah, Georgia, USABox Office
Budget:
$8.500.000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
$7.004.254 (USA) (7 October 2016)Gross:
$15.858.754 (USA) (2 December 2016)STORYLINE
Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat's preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself and his fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.REVIEW
The Birth of a Nation's running time is about 120, the movie is R rated for disturbing violent content and some brief nudity, and may come in cinemas on April 13, 2017, depending on the visitor numbers of Fast and Furious 8. However, it tells us the story of Nat Turner, based on his biography, who is slave on the ranch of Samuel Turner, 30 years before the civil war begins. When he was a child, he had to experience already, what it means to be a black man, and where is place is in the world's order of ranking people and compared to white guys. He has follow rules and orders, but he is an intelligent man, he is educated. So he became a preacher, and while his master becomes sick, he finds out that preaching by Nat is a job, which brings money. So Nat and his abilities are sold to other farms and there he should tell or better preach other slaves, that they always have to follow the lords and masters. So Nat comes around and also based on his memories of his childhood, he discovers more things in life, and he finds out that every man kind is the same in the eyes of God. This gives him the power to raise a uprising. This all is based on a true story, and so The Birth of a Nation is a movie, which is shocking because of the pictures shown in there (later on more about that) and because of the story behind the story within the storytelling and content. You will see scenes, which you will not easily forget, and so there room and space for discussions. I liked the movie, even though I am not a fan of the religious background, later on more about that, too, when I reach the conclusion.But let us begin with the CAST. Nate Parker plays Nat Turner, powerful, real, and solid in his performance in my eyes. He is a person who is reaching out to God and his love, he has strong believes, and he performs well since he has a religious background and so a tough and hard role, because he has to convince of what he is doing and that it is correct, what he is doing. He is good in that. He is the man who brings out the idea to the world, that all the things happening to slaves are not correct. His own values of his life are not important for him, he reaches out to other people with full love and his heart. He is the main character, and in my eyes, there was not a movie before, where I felt what he felt, the physical and emotional disasters and drama, which is happening to him and to other is not easy to keep the eyes on the screen for all the time. It is hard to watch this movie, I say it again, but it is the truth.
Then we have Armie Hammer as Samuel Turner, he lord of Nat. He is still one of the lords, who shows feelings and understanding for his slaves, but not at all. The message of the preachers do not convince so that he takes over the part of being a good and a bad guy at the time, because actually he wants the best for his slave, but this conflicts with the values and standards for white people.
The cast is so big, there are so many people in the movie, slaves and white people, the whole ensemble is epic in their performance.
The CAMERA is cold, ice cold. Shows everything, the movie is R rated. We see blood, we see scenes where tooth get hammered out of a slaves mouth with tools, we see how slaves are punished and how they loose their heads, not in a total screen, these things are captured in details. The camera itself is good, sometimes documentary, sometimes it leaves us alone to feel what is happening. Be prepared for that.
The SETTING is in the USA, landscapes all the time.
The MUSIC is loud, dramatic, and over the point. Sometimes the music is like a hero in the movie, which might be misunderstood by some you, because it is a contrast to the scenes and the drama. Sometimes there is also total silence.
The EFFECTS are great. Wounds are real looking.
CONCLUSION:
It is a true story what we can see.
What I like about the movie:
I like the look and the camera. The cast is awesome and the performance and emotional contact to the audience never gets lost. I like the brutal way of the storytelling, again be prepared. The message is great, how can people treat each other, suppress other, and the values effected by that. The speed of the movie is so cool, I did not feel the 2 hours of watching, I never got bored. It tells a famous story of the American history, which some people did not know before, but again it is a true story. It is a biopic.
What I did not like about the movie:
This is difficult, maybe the music and the religious background of the story which is understandable in some parts, but it is a real story, so the director has to tell us the story. This is just a very little minus point.
So if you like historical movies, based a real but American story, than watch it. I liked it, and there is almost nothing to say against this movie. It made me things about the status of people if you compare black and white people, which is still a highly discussed topic in some countries, especially in Africa.
So for its genre as a Drama, History and Biopic I will give The Birth of a Nation 9/10 points, overall 8/10 and so I wish you a lot of fun while, and I say thanks a lot for reading this review of
The Birth of a Nation, in cinemas on April 13, 2017.
