DS Forums

 
 

The Birth of a Nation


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 13-12-2016, 18:19
Gary Baldi
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 354

Anyone else seen this?
Doesn't seem to be popular ( only a handful of people in the cinema salon I was in, and that was just a couple of days after release). It's interesting how there was a lot of buzz about it towards the beginning of the year (especially after the 'Oscarssowhite' controversy) but then interest completely fell away (not helped by the surfacing of old rape accusations towards Nate Parker). Could also be the just before Christmas is not the best time to release such a heavy story. It has had mixed reviews in the U.K. on release and I think I heard that it flopped in the U.S.
Anyway, I thought it was a good, thought-provoking film that showed the harsh reality of slave life back in the mid 1800s and was unsurprisingly extremely gory and sickeningly violent in places, which did not make for comfortable viewing at all. The final scene of the film also is very explicit and disturbing too and lingers in close up for a couple of minutes.
The acting was excellent by the whole cast. Mr Parker is very talented as he wrote, directed, produced and starred in the the thing.
The pace of the first of the two hours is very slow (perhaps too slow) but I suppose this is to allow one to get to know the characters and to contrast with the frenetic final 30 minutes.
Gary Baldi is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 17-12-2016, 23:37
dosanjh1
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 5,794
Interesting choice of title which refers to the racist silent movie from the 20's which was pro KKK

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation

Cleary this film won't be pro KKK but why the name?
dosanjh1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-12-2016, 00:39
ramraideruk
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,026
I saw it and thought it was a very good film. Very hard going. Some of the scenes were so hard to watch (the tooth removal was the worst). I would definitely recommend it but be prepared.
ramraideruk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-12-2016, 01:27
dodrade
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 6,106
Interesting choice of title which refers to the racist silent movie from the 20's which was pro KKK

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation

Cleary this film won't be pro KKK but why the name?
I think the intention was to "appropriate" it somehow. In practice people will just get them mixed up.
dodrade is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 18-12-2016, 09:12
mgvsmith
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Belfast
Posts: 7,276
Interesting choice of title which refers to the racist silent movie from the 20's which was pro KKK

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Birth_of_a_Nation

Cleary this film won't be pro KKK but why the name?
Of course, in terms of cinematic history Griffith's 'The Birth of a Nation' is a major landmark in US Cinema. By using the same title I think the producers were trying to reclaim the title from its association with the rebirth of the KKK depicted in Griffiths movie.

When you consider the events of the last few years; #BlackLivesMatter, the recent US election and the diversity in the arts debate, the movie does have a certain relevance.
mgvsmith is offline Follow this poster on Twitter   Reply With Quote
 
Reply



Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 22:02.