The Birth of a Nation (2016)

There are a lot of overrated movies. And this is one of them. But still it is a good movie that almost lived up to the hype. Some movie do not ever get close to the hype Like The Godfather or the The Godfather part II. or The Silences of the lambs. Or The Godfather part III. This a good movie. It is kind of sad. But it did have a good story line. It also had good acting. If you like history dreams this is a good movie to see. PS. to the haters. Women and children are not always so innocent. I am white and have to say the slave owners got exactly what was coming to them. It is a shame there didn't kill more and get way with it.

No sir. Lets do this better next time. , if we need a next time. Go for Touusannt Louveture next time. that would be a good movie. I admire Nate Parkers effort to bring forth a piece from history that would show that black culture didn't just sit back and accept their circumstance but fought for freedom, but he chose the wrong direction. The movie was supposed to be about the actual rebellion, and it should have gone straight to the battle. It took tooo long to get there and when you get there , the battle lasted all of 5 minutes in a defeat that ended with a black man hanging from a tree and whites clapping in the background. ummmm no. people pleasing ending, psychological warfare and the emasculating of black men in film and theatre is getting really tired.

This is a tear-jerking bio-pic of Nat Turner, a slave minister who lead an unsuccessful rebellion. The film starts with his anointing as a child and ends with Nina Simone singing "Strange Fruit". This is another installment of "man's inhumanity to man" series inspired by our history on this planet.With a successful slave revolt in Haiti, slave owners feared the same in the US. Nate Parker gives us an excellent performance, although "12 Years a Slave" was a better film. The original film "Birth of a Nation" was the first film to be shown at the White House. It's Reconstruction message brought about protest and a resurgence of the KKK. This film is only connected in name only.The whipping and killing scenes were brief and less graphic than what they could have been. We do get the idea that men were whipped and women were raped and beaten also.Guide: Brief nudity (Aja Naomi King)

After hearing for most of my multi-decaded life that D. W. Griffith's "The Birth of a Nation" (1915) was a pioneering masterpiece in the film world I finally watched it in 2009. Then I gave it a 1 star rating and wrote this in my IMDb review: "I find the intellectual airy fairy commentary in the 10's section of the reviews here to be disturbing. Frankly, I think you people should be ashamed of yourselves for promoting this disgraceful homage to slavery and murder. Slavery is at the very least murder of the soul. But we all know that was the least of it's offenses. "The Birth of a Nation" is a bad film because it promotes a reprehensible ideology. The merits of it's production values are irrelevant. And not that it should make a difference but for the record, I am a southern white male." Readers at IMDb have rewarded me with a 46/92 rating. What a surprise. What we have here 100 years later in the new "The Birth of a Nation" (2016), finally, is the truth about slavery. Even "12 Years a Slave" was too cowardly to go where Nate Turner has gone. THAT film, "12 Years a Slave", would have you believe that some slave owners were benevolent. Really... This film is unflinching in its accurate portrayal of what slavery in America was like. It is stomach turning to watch the horrific beatings, rapes, torture, and just general bondage of people; and what other choice could there possibly be? Not showing it and pretending it didn't happen? Then add that it was conducted as routine commerce. Yes, other humans, slaves, were bought and sold; and there were no legal restrictions on what you could do to that person. These Crimes Against Humanity were done in the name of God, Christianity, and the U.S. Constitution. In the 40's when it was Hitler and the Holocaust we prosecuted and executed those responsible. Here, we just call it a difference of opinion and "states rights". Ask yourself this: is it possible to be a Christian in America during the slave holding years and, own, beat, and rape, other people because they have a different skin color than you; and then when you die be welcomed by God into Heaven? Just wondering. The performances by Nate Turner, Amie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller, and others, are sensational for their commitment to authenticity. Actors are notorious for weakening their portrayals by forcing a sympathetic facet into the inventory of an utterly unsympathetic character. Kind of like trying to show the human side of Hitler. Armie Hammer does not fall into that trap. I knew he was in this film but I had trouble finding him only to discover that he was the behind the unrepentant face of a vicious slave owner with zero redeeming qualities. That takes guts and talent. Nate Turner is also good. His only weakness is that he is wearing so many hats in this production: lead actor, director, producer, screenwriter, etc. Being in that position is tough and he does it well. But he does a better job as director for his fellow cast members. His character, Nat Turner, is lynched in the end; and apparently with the many portrayals of lynchings inventoried in American cinema over the last 100 years plus, it has taken an African American producer/director/writer/actor to present that horrifying event from the perspective of the man being lynched/murdered. It is powerful and about damn time. Apart from this film's well crafted and honest depiction of the worst chapter in American history, it has served to magnetically draw out current day racists. This film turns race baiting on its head by telling the whole truth about slavery and drawing out racists who cannot handle it. Need proof? Read some of the reviews here with 6 stars or less. What's most amazing is that these reviewers are not even ashamed of themselves. So, racists? Unload! I'm looking for a worse than 46/92 here. Come on. I know you can do it.