Review of The Birth of a Nation (2016) by Ben T — 10 Dec 2016

It feels like every year we get a film that in the months before release a lot of hype builds up and it seems like it will be a big oscar movie and will become a classic, but when it's finally released it just fades into obscurity and you wonder whether it was worth getting so hyped about.

This year it's The Birth of a Nation, a film telling the story of Nat Turner who led a slave revolt against white slave masters. It's a very interesting story and could have made a brilliant film but unfortunately this is a rather dull and mediocre movie.

The film definitely has merits but it's just such a mixed bag. Probably the best part of the movie is the brilliant performance by Nate Parker, he gives a great performance which is definitely what people will be talking about.

Armie Hammer is also pretty good although his character is messy with a sudden shift in character that comes literally out of nowhere. The rest of the acting is very mixed, there are some good performances but their is also a lot of bland performances and Parker is really the only brilliant performance.

The directing here is fine, there isn't really a lot of directorial flare and Parker honestly does better as an actor. The problem here is the pacing. The first hour moves at a snail's pace. I was so bored watching the first hour as nothing was really impressing me and the films inconsistent cinematography also doesn't help with that at all.

At some points the film is amazingly shot with brilliant camera movements and lighting, but at other points the film really does look like a TV movie. The film also does not really have the emotional impact or grit that other slave films like 12 Years a Slave or Django Unchained which are able to evoke audience reactions through their visuals or performances, in Birth of a Nation there is absolutely none of that.

There are some graphic images but a lot of it is quite hard to see or only lasts a few frames so it doesn't really stick in our mind save for one gruesome scene involving force feeding. Without a doubt the most heavily marketed part of the movie is the slave fight between the slaves and masters.

The scene unfortunately isn't really that great as it's over in about a minute and is quite generic. The film also spends about an hour on all this set up that while necessary completely drags so by the time we get to the slave fight its way too little too late.

The romance here is also really boring and happens way too fast for us to care about it at all. The films editing is also very jarring. There's lots of visual story telling like a corn cob bleeding or a woman looking like an angel but the editing is so clunky and it comes out of nowhere.

Unlike 12 Years a Slave the film also lacks the great areas as the characters are either evil or good except for Armie Hammers character who starts off in a grey area but very jarringly turns into a villain.

To be honest the Birth of a Nation is Justin huge let down. I really wish it had been more interesting and I want to see it done by someone else as this could have been an amazing movie. Ultimately the film is fine and that's it but considering how hyped it was this movie is unbelievably disappointing.

Ultimately I really think this film is just gonna get over taken by the Oscars by other films like Hacksaw Ridge or Manchester by the Sea which I hear are great. Parker is fantastic, the film is not and therefore I can't really call this a bad film but I can't really recommend it either.

C+.