The Birth of a Nation (Official Thread)

[satam55]

Congrats Nate on receiving the Director's Guild Nomination for "Best Director" which is one of the highest honors for a Director. What Nate did on a limited budget was amazing and inspriational. Everyone can say what Nate should or shouldn't of done but the reality is he did it first, he got the money on his own and with a micro budget he brought Nate Turner to life. Salute. Nate sacrifice will inspire more Black, Latino and other filmmakers to tell our stories our way in the future.

Is there a link to an article or something?

 

[Dr. Narcisse]

Finally got to see this movie over the weekend and I cant front, I was disappointed. Movie had true potential, but ended up being some watered down white washed safe ass shyt.

Like the only thing it got right was the brutality of slavery. They made sure all the torture and hardship scenes were long and drawn out, but rushed through the revolt. My biggest gripe is that they changed up the ending to differ from what historically happened which lessens the whole rebellious theme the movie needed to have.

The pacing was awful. The movie should have given 1 hour to building things up and then 1 hour or at least 45 minutes to the revolt and its aftermath. Instead, the movies kinda over prepares you to expect some epic shyt that never happens.

All in all, the movie was average. It had some powerful scenes and powerful moments, but it never felt like a powerful movie.

I think its better than that. However, I do think it could have been better. He just didn't have the resources to do it like he wanted too and he really needed someone else to direct.

I read one comment where he might have been better off showing elements of the revolt first. Then we flashback periodically to how it got to that point. Instead narratively he went the Mel Gibson route.

 

[TheGodling]

I watched it today since I found out they gave up on a theatrical release here and will be dropping it directly on dvd/blu-ray instead.

It was an okay film. Parker certainly isn't a bad director and he had some inspired ideas, but too often he struggled to find the right atmosphere or build-up. Most of the dramatic weight really comes from the content itself, Parker's direction does little to elevate what we're seeing. This becomes embarrassingly obvious when Nina Simone's version of Strange Fruit starts playing, and the sheer pain in Simone's voice is still more powerful than anything Parker shows in the actual film.

It's a movie with its heart in the right place but it does very little to stand out from the pack or add to the many movie depictions of slavery that already exist. In fact, it played things surprisingly safe, both the atrocities committed against slaves (except for maybe the teeth bashing) and the white men murdered in the rebellion. Frankly, it makes all the faux outrage just more ridiculous.

 

[The Blind Man]

Anyone who says this is like "all" other films about slavery is mad suspect b.

Nuff Americans didnt, still dont, know about Nat Turner. Even on the press run actors who starred in the film and the people interviewing them, knew nothing about Nat Turner prior ro making the film.

This stands alone. No film maker has attempted to depict Nat Turners story before. The 500 year Transatlantic slave trade is like no other period in recorded history. Its legacy shaped the modern world.

There are about 40-50 films about the North American portion of the slave trade.

Compare that to over 100 films about the least talked about of the World Wars. World War One. That lasted 4 years.

Mad suspect b...

 

[StraxStrax]

they were working on a shoe-string budget for filming.

8,5 millz is a shoestring budget?
C'mon, son.

Take Shelter - 1 million
Moon - 5 millions
Garden State - 2,5 millions
Lost in Translation - 4 millions
Bronson - $230,000
Juno - 7,5 millions
Brick - $500,000

and so on.

 

[Birnin Zana]

8,5 millz is a shoestring budget?
C'mon, son.

Take Shelter - 1 million
Moon - 5 millions
Garden State - 2,5 millions
Lost in Translation - 4 millions
Bronson - $230,000
Juno - 7,5 millions
Brick - $500,000

and so on.

Compared to other slave movies and/or historical films? Yes.

12 years a slave: $17.1 million
The Help : $25 million
Free State of Jones: $50 million
Django Unchained: $100 million
Selma: $20 million
Hidden Figures: $25 million

Birth of a Nation had a lot less to work with than other historical movies, not to mention it was an indy project, not a studio film. That 8.5 million was all they had to play with. They couldn't miss a single day of filming, regardless of weather conditions or random stuff going on either.

 

[RajWatts]

damn shame how this near masterpiece got 0 nominations. casey affleck gets recognized white nate parker gets blackballed

 

[FLORIDA BOI]

I watched it this morn

My question is the people criticizing the movie what more do you want?

I thought it was good

Only thing they could have done is went darker , and people couldn't handle this

black folks couldn't even bare to watch this , especially religious folks .

I'm glad the Nat Turner story finally got told , i read about his revolt when I was little ,half my

friends don't know who the fuk he is .

 

[gottah8me]

So Moonlight was really better than Birth of a nation Hollywood strikes again.

 

[GoldenGlove]

Finally got to see this movie over the weekend and I cant front, I was disappointed. Movie had true potential, but ended up being some watered down white washed safe ass shyt.

Like the only thing it got right was the brutality of slavery. They made sure all the torture and hardship scenes were long and drawn out, but rushed through the revolt. My biggest gripe is that they changed up the ending to differ from what historically happened which lessens the whole rebellious theme the movie needed to have.

The pacing was awful. The movie should have given 1 hour to building things up and then 1 hour or at least 45 minutes to the revolt and its aftermath. Instead, the movies kinda over prepares you to expect some epic shyt that never happens.

All in all, the movie was average. It had some powerful scenes and powerful moments, but it never felt like a powerful movie.

This is exactly how I felt. The rebellion depiction was weak as hell. I left the theater disappointed.

 

[LauderdaleBoss]

This is exactly how I felt. The rebellion depiction was weak as hell. I left the theater disappointed.

For real breh. When that rushed ass ending came I was like

 

[GoldenGlove]

For real breh. When that rushed ass ending came I was like

Here's a post I made in here after I initially saw the movie...

My gripe with the movie is that it didn't depict the rebellion well. It didn't have to be on bullshyt like Django... but guess what??? It was based off of a TRUE STORY where white people died, and we hardly see any of that in detail in this film. Just face it, Nate Parker held BACK. 60 white slave holding people whether they were family members or slave owners were killed during this rebellion and there was only 1 brutal death shown in this movie during that period. (the beheading)

In the same light, the movie shows nikkas teeth getting knocked out and fed through a funnel, we see a women get that pumpkin head treatment, we see nikkas with their heads blown off, we see nikkas literally set on fire, we see kids and women hanging from trees... what kind of harsh imagery do we have in this film depicted from the other side? A beheading scene that we barely see. My gripe is that we were sold on this being a different kind of slave movie. Showing Nat Turner's plight and struggle, and how he was a hero for doing what he did. But the images that I'm left with from this film aren't from what Nat did or his revenge/rebellion... it's the same images that I've already seen on film time and time again.

This shyt was such a letdown. Dudes really just propping it up cause a black man made it, and that's fine. I'm not going to run on social media and shyt on this film. I'm just shocked people are just blindly putting this film on a pedestal. It was really like your typical slave movie to the core.

Another gripe I had (which I mentioned in a post earlier, but people ignored it) was how the movie didn't show us what Nat was doing to survive during the time after the rebellion til when he was captured. The time period was from Aug - Oct, and the movie just shows us what's probably a fake scenario where he's talking to his wife in the bushes in the field. That would have been more interesting and unique to his story than the same ol same ol that we got here.

The one thing that the story excelled at was showing how Christianity was used to control slaves during that time. I respected that aspect. But much of everything else, just fell flat for me, or just felt rushed. Highly disappointed in this man, smh.

 

[LauderdaleBoss]

Here's a post I made in here after I initially saw the movie...

I didn't read the whole thread so I missed your post, but reading it now and that shyt is powerful as fukk.

I felt the exact same way.

This will go down as the safest black empowerment movie ever. shyt was made in a way to not piss white people off. Given the final product, I wish this movie never came out. That's how pissed I was after watching this film. It didn't uplift shyt. I honestly don't see what others saw in this film, but

 

[mastermind]

damn shame how this near masterpiece got 0 nominations

because it wasnt nearly a masterpiece.

 

[mastermind]

That's how pissed I was after watching this film. It didn't uplift shyt. I honestly don't see what others saw in this film, but

i remember when i watched it and didnt have any real feelings towards the product.

It wasnt a great movie. I was already mad at white people, so this did little to change that feeling.

The movie didnt move me in any way. I think a lot of people in this thread wanted it to be great as a backlash to the Nate Parker rape stuff.

The irony to me about the hype and deescalation of this movie is that white liberals were the ones who hyped it up. They played us again.