The Birth of a Nation

— This is a troublesome film no matter how you deal with it. It is the story is one of the bloodiest slave uprisings in American history, when Nat Turner and his followers picked up axes and other farm tools and went from house to house killing slave owners and their families. As director, writer, producer, and star, Nate Parker’s hand is all over this film but I can’t be sure his vision was realized. Turner is presented as a nice lad who learns to read and write and shows respect for his owner. As he grows older, he becomes more heroic and more religious, preaching to slaves at other plantations and receiving God’s visions. Witnessing injustice at every turn and seeing his wife and other women violated, he organizes his followers in a vengeful or righteous revolt. The problem is that, in an effort to counteract past filmic views of race, a very simplistic view is presented and, although the basic facts of Turner’s story are there, it’s hard to trust much of the film. This may be Parker’s personal view, or maybe a way to focus viewer attention on a link in the struggle for equality that continues today. The film certainly is not a great film, but it’s singular, simplistic, brutal vision has some shock value and I'm glad I saw it. I should mention that I understand the other troublesome part of this film—Parker was accused of sexual assault while a student at Penn State by a woman who later committed suicide, so audiences may be faced with an ethical dilemma as to whether seeing the film moves them closer to equality or shows disrespect for victims of sexual abuse.

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[2016. 120 min. Written and directed by Nate Parker. Starring Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller, and Raymond Cobb.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/07/movies/the-birth-of-a-nation-review-nate-parker.html