Review of The Birth of a Nation (2016) by Margo D — 12 Oct 2016

D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation is a lightning rod of controversy in film history. Hugely influential in style and technique, it's also deplorable in its celebration of the KKK. So when the true story of Nat Turner's slave uprising was announced, its title of the same name was staggeringly subversive and bold. If only the film was as bold as its title. It's a Babe Ruth movie: when it hits, it's a homerun, but when it misses, it misses hard. In his directorial debut, Parker's pretentious imagery, stale emotions, and flat characters overshadow the stronger elements of story and theme.

Turner's story of outrage-turned-righteous-vengeance starts with the mundanity of these atrocities in the day-to-day, before erupting with justifiable violence. As an actor, Parker has an indelible presence onscreen; as a writer/director, he struggles. His thesis seems to be that in a violent world, sometimes all people can hear is violence ("To stand between the Lord and his people is a dangerous place to be."). However, while the brutality he implements is often effectively sparse and palpable, it's neither emotionally stirring enough (ala 12 Years a Slave), nor does it seem to have much interesting to say about vengeance (ala Django). Instead, we're given forced Christ-imagery that serves to confuse more than inspire.

There are undeniably some moving moments in the film. Anytime Turner is preaching to other slaves is a stirring example of religious manipulation vs. conviction, and the conversations about God's justice & love compellingly parallel Black Lives Matter concerns. Otherwise, it's a fairly run-of-the-mill costume drama that too often feels like a "Key and Peele" sketch about awards-bait filmmaking.