Yep, it’s another slave movie. In recent years, many consumers, of all races, have expressed fatigue over the flow of films coming from Hollywood that depict American slavery and the brutal treatment that the ancestors of African Americans endured from 1619 through 1865. Detractors claim to find little value in documenting the history of slavery and instead see it as exploitative and gratuitious, propaganda meant to subtly psychologically demean blacks or paint the United States as irredeemably racist. Wading into such waters as his first film back from controversy isn’t the best possible outcome for Will Smith, but this film may not be the disastrous first step it would be appear to be at first glance.
Based on the true story of famed former slave Gordon, Emancipation chronicles the journey of Haitian-born slave Peter (Will Smith), his wife Dodienne (Charmaine Bingwa), and their children during the American Civil War. Peter finds himself separated from his family and the brutal Louisiana plantation they are enslaved on after he is sold to the Confederate Army to help construct a railroad at a major fort. After overhearing the news that President Abraham Lincoln has issued the Emancipation Proclamation and declared enslaved persons free, Peter attempts to escape toward freedom in the Northern occupied Baton Rouge. As he attempts to make it southwest, Peter must outwit the notorious slave catcher Jim Fassel (Ben Foster) and his crew in order to gain emancipation and hopefully reunite with his family.
I have to begin this review as bluntly as possible, there’s no two-ways about it, Emancipation is a brutal film that holds nothing back about the cruelty of slavery. It goes without saying that documenting Peter’s harrowing journey through the Louisiana swamps being chased by ruthless slave catchers while avoiding snakes and alligators after brutal physical treatment as a slave and being separated from his family is an exercise in displaying the mental terror of enslavement, but director Antoine Fuqua pulls no punches with putting the physical punishment on full display either. The wanton violence, ranging from beatings to branding to gun executions is all here and its shown in gory fashion, although the film’s gorgeous and cinematic black-and-white color gradient with just a minimal hint of color in the surrounding environment helps to blunt some of the visual gore at the treatment if not the tenor of it. This unflinching glimpse of how African slaves were dehumanized in the antebellum South will not help to assuage the concerns of those viewers who may have tired of films documenting the American slave trade, but it does help to fortify Emancipation’s narrative regarding Peter’s strength and determination in his journey toward freedom. The question of whether or not depicting such brutality is simply trauma porn has always been for me a question of shame.
I have always felt that the reticence many feel toward seeing slavery documented in film has been rooted in where one places the shame of American chattel slavery. For too many black Americans, a sense of shame is felt that our ancestors were enslaved and subjugated for centuries; victims of monsters more powerful than they were. As a result, there is resistance toward having this shown on a big screen for all to see. I can’t help but contrast this to the mindset of the world’s Jewish population and their experience with the Holocaust and their continued production of films depicting that tragedy. It is evident both in how they address the experience of Jewish people and how their experiences are depicted on film, that they believe the shame falls completely upon their brutalizers, not upon those that endured their brutality. As such, the lessons learned from that shameful time period is always ripe for documentation so that the world may never forget. It is a thought process that I lean toward as well and thus, the brutality present in Emancipation is appropriate in my eyes so that the historical record reflects who and what slave owners were, their misdeeds never forgotten to history.
Peter’s journey is a harrowing one and Smith gives a magnificent performance that fully encapsulates the strength it took for Peter to fight against enslavement. As previously mentioned, the evils that slaves faced were both physical and mental and Smith is empathetic and believable displaying both aspects. Peter is a man of faith devoted to his family and willing to stare down death in order to do the right thing for them and any other human being. Smith is steely and courageous, but in a way befitting an enslaved person and not in an action star, heroic way that would’ve detracted from the type of film Emancipation is. The emotion he displays amidst his steadfastness to find freedom and his family is palpable and completely engulfs Smith, allowing him to disappear into the role. His traversal across the Louisiana swamp is where the thriller aspects of the film come into play and turns into an engrossing game of cat and mouse with Foster’s Fassel, who is the perfectly evil foil. The film’s first two acts fly by as we watch Peter evade and Fassel track, ending with an epic audience applause moment at the conclusion of their jousting.
Emancipation is a tale of perseverance in the face of unfathomable cruelty, faith in the midst of having every reason to doubt. Will Smith gives one of the best performances of his career, a bittersweet result as the lingering sore feelings over his behavior at last year’s Academy Awards and subsequent ban will likely prevent him from receiving a second straight Best Actor Oscar nomination that he would have been extremely competitive for. He is at once emotional and empathetic, heroic and inspiring, with Ben Foster providing a quality performance opposite him as the film’s antagonist. The film may also be the best shot of movie of the year, with a color palate that works to create some of the most gorgeous imagery you’ll see in 2022. The bits of color shown through foliage and blood are nice touch, combining with the black-and-white color grading to give it a feel that is authentic for the time period. Director of photography Robert Richardson offers environmental establishing shots that are best compared to Apocalypse Now’s legendary river shots also utilizing crane and overhead shots that are visually striking.
Image: AppleTV+
