The Birth of a Nation
Director: Nate Parker
Starring: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Gabrielle Union, Jackie Earle Haley, Aja Naomi King
Four stars
Almost a year ago, Nate Parker's The Birth of a Nation played at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the Audience Award and the Grand Jury Prize.
Every bit as powerful as Steve McQueen's Best Picture-winner 12 Years a Slave, the impeccably crafted and acted slavery drama seemed certain to be an front-runner in the Oscar race.
Parker’s chances were extinguished after negative press coverage resurfaced about an alleged rape in 1999 that he and Jean McGianni Celestin, who has a story credit on Birth, were accused of. Both men were acquitted, but the tragic details – not least the fact that the accuser took her own life – inevitably overshadowed the release of the film in the United States.
Taken on its own merits, away from this firestorm, The Birth of a Nation deserves to be seen. Parker – who writes, directs, produces and stars – delivers a commanding piece of work.
It pays tribute to real-life Virginia slave Nat Turner, played by the director, who led a rebellion – ultimately crushed in brutal fashion – among fellow slaves in 1831. Parker’s film takes us there carefully, showing what led to the insurrection.
From a childhood when he was allowed to read the Bible to his later years preaching the Gospel to fellow slaves, Turner was cut from a different cloth. When his master, Samuel (Armie Hammer), senses a moneymaking opportunity, he takes Turner on tour – spreading the word of the Lord at plantations. Seeing the hideous conditions his fellow slaves were kept in plants a rebellious seed in Turner’s mind.
With strong performances from Mark Boone Jnr and Jackie Earle Haley (as a particularly repugnant slave-hunter), as well as breakout star Aja Naomi King as Turner’s abused wife, Cherry, Parker doesn’t spare the graphic details.
One scene – involving the consequences of a hunger-strike – is so vivid, it might scar you. But The Birth of a Nation does not pore over the violence of the era in the way McQueen's film did.
Instead it is a slow build, but one that escalates towards a remarkable crescendo.
Whatever your thoughts about Parker, this is undeniably a tremendous, impactful work.
• The Birth of a Nation is in cinemas from Thursday, January 5
artslife@thenational.ae