Review of The Birth of a Nation (2016) by Jaime L — 25 Nov 2016

I am so disappointed in this film, after hearing so much about The Birth of a Nation I was left feeling so underwhelmed with what the actual film gave me. I don't understand how Nate Parker took such an interesting event in American history and managed to take all the emotional heft of it out of his film. He managed it though and what I saw interested me not in the least, characters moving from scene to scene lifeless, with attempts of blatant emotional manipulation and hamfisted symbolism to smother the viewer with. Glazing over what actually happened in the uprising didn't help either, didn't see Nat Turner or his fellow rebels kill any children, I suppose it would make it harder to turn the man into a hero if that was shown on screen. If this was supposed to be the next 12 Years A Slave it was an utter failure to me as that terrific film seemed to do everything that The Birth of a Nation failed at. Made me care, showed the horrors of slavery without getting preachy or in your face metaphors to appear "artsy".

To give this film a positive note I will say that Parker did a fine job in the role of Turner, the acting was fine work even if the script and directing was not. I did feel the emotional turmoil the character was going through even with the messy story.