The Birth of a Nation

Plot synopsis:
=== Part 1: Civil War of United States ===
The film follows two juxtaposed families. One is the Northern Stonemans: abolitionist U.S. Representative Austin Stoneman (based on the Reconstruction-era Representative Thaddeus Stevens), his daughter, and two sons. The other is the Southern Camerons: Dr. Cameron is married to his wife, Mrs. Cameron. The couple also has three sons and two daughters.
Phil, the elder Stoneman son, falls in love with Margaret Cameron, during the brothers' visit to the Cameron estate in South Carolina, representing the Old South. Meanwhile, young Ben Cameron idolizes a picture of Elsie Stoneman.
During the Civil War, the young men from both families enlist in their respective armies for the war. The younger Stoneman and two of the Cameron brothers are killed in the war. Meanwhile, the Cameron women are rescued by Confederate soldiers who rout a Black militia, after an attack on the Cameron home. Ben Cameron leads a heroic charge at the Siege of Petersburg, earning the nickname of "the Little Colonel". But he is also wounded and captured. He is then taken to a Union hospital in Washington, D.C. During his stay at the hospital, he is told that he will be hanged. Also at the hospital, he meets Elsie Stoneman, whose picture he has been carrying; she is working there as a nurse. Elsie takes Cameron's mother, who had traveled to Washington to tend her son, to see Abraham Lincoln, and Mrs. Cameron persuades the President to pardon Ben.
When Lincoln is assassinated at Ford's Theater, his conciliatory postwar policy expires with him. In the wake of the president's death, Austin Stoneman and other Radical Republicans are determined to punish the South, employing harsh measures that Griffith depicts as having been typical of the Reconstruction era.
=== Part 2: Reconstruction ===
Stoneman and his protégé Silas Lynch, a mulatto exhibiting psychopathic tendencies, head to South Carolina to observe the implementation of Reconstruction policies firsthand. During the election, in which Lynch is elected lieutenant governor, blacks are observed stuffing the ballot boxes, while many Whites are denied the vote. The newly elected, mostly black members of the South Carolina legislature are shown at their desks displaying inappropriate behavior, such as one member taking off his shoe and putting his feet up on his desk, and others drinking liquor and feasting on stereotypically African American fare such as fried chicken.
Meanwhile, inspired by observing white children pretending to be ghosts to scare black children, Ben fights back by forming the Ku Klux Klan. As a result, Elsie, out of loyalty to her father, breaks off her relationship with Ben. Later, Flora Cameron goes off alone into the woods to fetch water and is followed by Gus, a freedman and soldier who is now a captain. He confronts Flora and tells her that he desires to get married. Frightened, she flees into the forest, pursued by Gus. Trapped on a precipice, Flora warns Gus she will jump if he comes any closer. When he does, she leaps to her death. Having run through the forest looking for her, Ben has seen her jump; he holds her as she dies, then carries her body back to the Cameron home. In response, the Klan hunts down Gus, tries him, finds him guilty, and lynches him.
Lynch then orders a crackdown on the Klan after discovering Gus' murder. He also secures the passing of legislature allowing mixed-race marriages. Dr. Cameron, Ben's father, is arrested for possessing Ben's Klan regalia, now considered a crime punishable by death. He is, however, rescued by Phil Stoneman and a few of his black servants. Together they flee, along with Margaret Cameron. When their wagon breaks down, they make their way through the woods to a small hut that is home to two sympathetic former Union soldiers who agree to hide them. As an intertitle states, "The former enemies of North and South are united again in defense of their Aryan birthright."
Congressman Stoneman leaves to avoid being connected with Lt. Gov. Lynch's crackdown. Elsie, learning of Dr. Cameron's arrest, goes to Lynch to plead for his release. Lynch, who had been lusting after Elsie, tries to force her to marry him, which causes her to faint. Stoneman returns, causing Elsie to be placed in another room. At first, Stoneman is happy when Lynch tells him he wants to marry a white woman, but is then angered when Lynch tells him that it is Stoneman's daughter. Undercover Klansmen spies discover Elsie's plight when she breaks a window and cries out for help, and the Klansmen go to get help. Elsie falls unconscious again, and revives while gagged and being bound. The Klan, gathered together at full strength and with Ben leading them, rides in to gain control of the town. When news about Elsie reaches Ben, he and others go to her rescue. Elsie frees her mouth and screams for help. Lynch is captured. Victorious, the Klansmen celebrate in the streets. Meanwhile, Lynch's militia surrounds and attacks the hut where the Camerons are hiding. The Klansmen, with Ben at their head, race in to save them just in time. The next election day, blacks find a line of mounted and armed Klansmen just outside their homes, and are intimidated into not voting.
The film concludes with a double wedding as Margaret Cameron marries Phil Stoneman and Elsie Stoneman marries Ben Cameron. The masses are shown oppressed by a giant warlike figure who gradually fades away. The scene shifts to another group finding peace under the image of Jesus Christ. The penultimate title is: "Dare we dream of a golden day when the bestial War shall rule no more. But instead — the gentle Prince in the Hall of Brotherly Love in the City of Peace."

Tags: murder

Review:
Nate Parker's film sheds no new light on the brutality of slavery and does his absolute best to make sure you despise the white villains in this as anyone should as they are portrayed with much relish from the actors especially Jackie Earle Haley's menacing slave owner that serves as the main villain of the film.
The Birth of a Nation tells the story of Nat Turner, a preacher turned rebellion leader as he fights racism in the south with a violent and brutal fist.
The Birth of Nation tells the story of Nat Turner as he treks through his life of brutality and slavery at the hands of brutal plantation owners in 19th century Southern America only to lead a slave rebellion to exact revenge on his oppressors.
While many people are not privy to Nat Turner's rebellion, it still does not excuse the poorly constructed storyline based around the idea of a rape and religious visions in order to fuel the Nat Turner character's motives as if Parker was not confident enough in telling the true life story and the real reasons behind why Turner rebelled.
Nat Turner's Rebellion , also known as the Southampton Insurrection , is set against the antebellum South , it follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher , he was highly intelligent and learned how to read and write at a young age and he grew up deeply religious and was often seen fasting , praying or immersed in reading the stories of the Bible .
Nat has filmed with all of the power and realism at its command but some scenes in exploitation style , including strong tortures , lashing , rape , grisly killings and many other things .This ¨The birth of a nation¨ is correctly based on true events , these are the followings : Turner rebellion was, according to his own writings, based on spiritual visions .
The film also ignores the darker side of the slave rebellion, in which women and children became innocent victims, along with the plantation owners.Birth of a Nation basically paints Nat Turner has an unquestionable hero, yet the real Nat Turner - if you've ever read any history - probably wouldn't be considered as a hero by the vast majority of modern people, considering some of his questionable actions during the rebellion that left women and children slaughtered.There wasn't really much of an impact on me by the end of the film, and I think the film mostly fails to give the viewer a clear or unique message.
The simple fact of the matter, amidst a film festival circuit buzzing about Oscars for this little film, is that it is not that good.This is described as being a passion project for first-time director Nate Parker (who also stars in the lead role of a slave named Nat Turner), who financed much of the film with his own money and worked tirelessly to bring the forgotten story of a rebellion to the big screen.
Watching the film, I think Mr Parker simply paid one too many homages to similar films that have come before.Nat Turner is a slave who is raised to read and write by the wife of his master.
Even the final fight and coup amounts to little more than 20 minutes of the film and features the standard villain who eventually faces his death in a moment meant to illicit cheers from the audience (in fact, this scene felt like something straight out of "The Patriot," another Mel Gibson film about revolution and war).As an actor, I can attest to the strength of Nate Parker's performance as a man who comes to term with his own destiny.
I've read a few of the comments here - and for those of you who understood context and the severity of the human condition for blacks during this time - it goes without saying that Nat Turner was well within his right to fight for his life (and therefore, the following paragraphs are not for you).For those of you who regard this film as "propaganda" or "racist crap", I am not surprised.
Nobody now alive was ever guilty of owning or whipping a slave, yet the anger has followed generations through the movement of time.I'm thinking of seeing a film, "Glory", in a black neighborhood theater and listening the audience's deafening cheers as the Union's black soldiers attacked and killed Confederates -- not an isolated incident because the same screams of joy erupted during a screening of a dismissable movie, "Grasshopper," in which a furious Jim Brown beat the hell out of a villainous white man.
But the director has us believe otherwise; that Nat was more like a hero whose actions influenced a far bloodier war 30 years later in the emancipation of slavery, and hence the title.Yet at its core, this film is a penetrating enquiry into the ongoing struggles for justice and equality, the fine line between the use and abuse of authority, and also whether the history taught today is factual, or eroded, or sanitised.
But you can now relive that excruciating experience from the religious and moral perspective of a slave, Nat Turner (Nate Parker), in Nate Parker's realistic and dramatic The Birth of a Nation.While both men are mercilessly whipped in the two films, 12 Years remains superior in its scope and complexity.
The film graphically depicts the violence and is equally indulgent showing the growing love between Nate and her.As in 12 Years, Birth takes care to show the close relationship between slave and master, Samuel (Armie Hammer).
Nate Parker does deliver a great performance of Nat Turner, and the scenes of him delivering his sermons are some of the best of the movie.
The beloved darling of last year's Sundance Film Festival is a competently crafted biographical drama that brings the story of Nat Turner to life in splendid detail and exhibits expert workmanship in all aspects of filmmaking but it still fails to bring anything new to the table and feels like something that we have seen many times before.Set in 19th century America, The Birth of a Nation tells the story of Nat Turner, an enslaved man & a preacher who's taken to different plantations by his financially strained owner to preach to other negro slaves and, after witnessing countless acts of barbarity inflicted upon them by their owners, orchestrates an uprising to lead his people to freedom.Co-written, co-produced & directed by Nate Parker who also stars in the leading role, The Birth of a Nation takes its time to set up its premise and is quite violent & disturbing when it's meant to be but there are also times when it needlessly indulges in some petty allegorical bullshit & unneeded flashbacks which hamper its steady narration by an extent.While it's evident that the film is a product of extensive research, no real effort is made to separate its look n feel from other examples that deal with the subject of slavery.
Had a while The Birth of a Nation was the movie to be hit in the Oscar, the big favorite, but that changed when the Actor and director Nate Parker suffered accusations of rape, and the film was forgotten, well I will not speak of these controversies , Just the movie, well I consider The Birth of a Nation the Braveheart (1995) with slaves, I know that the story of The Birth of a Nation really happened, plus Nate Parker makes the film very much like the work of Mel Gibson Which won 5 Oscar in many moments, the scenes that if you put one next to the other, you will see the great similarity, well The Birth of a Nation is very good, I think it could have been indicated pro Oscar of best film, The direction of Nate Parker is great, but he is very good at acting, he is the best of the film, he is great, he transmits through the look of suffering and hatred, the film a good battle scene, even though it is very short, the rest Of the cast is competent, the soundtrack is great, the costumes are great, the photograph is beautiful, the final scene is good too, the film is heavy, it has very violent scenes, but this should always be expected in a film that has slavery Nate Parker uses the title The Birth of a Nation as an allusion to the 1915 film which, while being an important film, is one of the most racist films in the cinema, The Birth of a Nation is very good, it's a Of the best film of 2016.
Like films that have come before it, "Boss Ni@@er" (1975), "Shaft" (1970); lately, "Django Unchained" (2012), and "The Magnificent 7" (2016)-- the lead actor is a strong-in thought and deed-hero, whom everyone, no matter what race he or she is, can relate to.We need more heroes on the big screen representing the Black experience, which is anyone's experience who loves movies about the underdog triumph.
The true story of An American hero Nat Turner who was a slave who became a preacher soon realizes words can do only so much and there will come a time for physical action..
Yet when his master Samuel (Hammer) loans him out to other slaveholders so he can preach the gospel to keep other slaves inspired (and happy in bondage), Nat begins to see the scope of slavery and its inherent evil.Birth of a Nation builds itself as an important film and due in large part by its radicalism, it largely succeeds.
Let me begin by saying the film, Birth of a Nation, is a fictional story based on the events of Nat Turner's attempt at leading a slave rebellion in August 21, 1831, in Southampton County, Virginia.
This cinematic masterpiece tells the story from the victim's point of view, and never has a film captured the profound history of American slave rebellions as powerfully and artistically as Nate Parker's The Birth of a Nation.
The story of freedom fighter Nat Turner and his 1831 revolt in Virginia has taken on deeper meaning and understanding due to the diligence and amazing artistic skills of actor Nate Parker (The Great Debaters).
In this film Nat Turner, until now a name usually associated with a fanatic religious preacher, has become a human being with a loving wife and family, a literate slave preacher who as a victim of violent oppression incomprehensibly gains an intense desire to risk his life to free his people from bondage.
Using the same title, Confessions of Nat Turner, he embellished the story and his summations were challenged by Turner advocates in a book entitled, William Styron's Nat Turner: Ten Black Writers Respond.There has never been a feature film on Turner and slave rebellions of this scope, although in 2003 the revered African American director Charles Burnett produced a stylized documentary called Nat Turner: A Troublesome Property, which addresses the complex interpretations of Turner's life and actions.
A Powerful and Profound History Lesson for All. The Birth of a Nation is the committed directorial debut of Nate Parker (The Great Debaters, Non-Stop) who is also the writer and the lead actor playing Nat Turner.
Unlike Quentin Tarantino who came up with the fictional character of Django in Django Unchained, Nat Turner was a real person whose life events became that of folk lore, similar to what Tarantino was doing with DjangoWriter, director, producer and star Nate Parker attempts to turn the folk lore made of rumors and speculation into a story that tries to tells us what actually happen to the best of his abilities.Some of the things in the movie I herd about, some of the things I did not, some things try to put a real perspective on what maybe an over exaggeration.
No matter how many times you see the truth on slavery, I can't help but be disturb by it, and I'm indifferent about learning something new about how slavery works (Movie talks about slaves needing to carry a piece of paper whenever they are away form their master or his property and present to any white man who ask in order to prove ownership)Unlike 12 Years A Slave the story of Nat Turner is a lot more powerful, compelling as it creates this tale of a man completely devoted to the word of God that it compels him to take down those who are not, even if it goes against the American dream at the time.Some people have already posted that the story is inaccurate.
I will admit that I only know bits and pieces of this man's story (like I said to me it's only a folk lore), and a lot of those bits and pieces don't add up to what the movie is telling, but considering my classes in American History never bothered to tell me anything about this man, I feel that this is a decent start, and like the Tuskegee Airmen hopefully more films will come along and be more accurate for everyone's standards.This was an exceptional job for fist time director, Nate Parker, who I knew as an actor and had no idea he trying to be the full package.
Unfortunately, all the controversy surrounding 2016's "The Birth of a Nation" keeps some Movie Fans from fairly evaluating the film's quality, which is the main purpose of this review.Parker plays Nat Turner, the literate and very religious slave who led an 1831 Virginia slave revolt which killed approximately 60 white men, women and children and resulted in the legal executions and retaliatory murders of about 200 blacks, both slave and free.
Eventually, everything he observes and terrible things that happen to him and his family at the hands of their white oppressors convince Nat that God is calling him to fight for freedom in the most literal sense."The Birth of a Nation" represents an impressive step forward in the career of Nate Parker.
First time director Nate Parker (personal controversy aside), faces film scrutiny as he presents yet another story of slavery uprising, this time led by southern slave preacher Nat Turner (Parker).
The film takes on a major event in American history, the  sudden rebellion by slaves led by Nat Turner.
The Birth of a NationIf it weren't for slavery, America would have been just another Upper Canada.However, this historical drama contends that without slavery there would be no United States at all.In order to assist his impoverished master Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), well-educated slave Nat Turner (Nate Parker) agrees to preach the good word at neighbouring plantations.
The 2016 film is based on the legendary but true tale of black slave Nat Turner who led America's first revolt against white owners in 1831.
His oratory inspired others to join in a brutal rampage of white killings before he and his small army were all hanged.This is a cinematically important film, despite the ambivalence some may have over the messianic depiction of Nat Turner (played by director Nate Parker).
The movie "Birth of a Nation" is truly a great film, especially for young black Americans who will not learn about Nat Turner because our education system purposely leaves this piece out.
It was a movie written, directed and starring an African-American about the Nat Turner slave rebellion in 1831.
Early word is that this film would be a shoo-in for Oscar nominations.And then, the movie came out...THE BIRTH OF A NATION is a very serious, slow and deliberate film that shows the evils of slavery from Nat Turner's point of view, pushing a good man over and over again until he reaches his boiling point and starts a rebellion against his white oppressors.
The Birth of a Nation (2016)*** 1/2 (out of 4)True story based on the life of Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a slave who learned to read and became a preacher.
This review of The Birth of a Nation is spoiler free **** (4/5) THE YEAR 1831, in Virginia real life slave Nat Turner saw the brutality of slavery as he witnessed his fellow slaves being constantly beaten up, whipped an forced to work for hours on end until their backs gave out, so he decided to form a rebellion of men, women, children as they fought for freedom killing a lot of slavers.
Every single person in the world needs to see Birth of A Nation not because of Nate Parker but because of Nat Turner, his story encapsulates the narrative of oppression that has engulfed the world since the phenomenon of White Supremacy arose 500 years ago.
If I were African American, I would approach Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation, about Nat Turner's brief but powerful 1831 slave rebellion in Virginia, with awe and reverence and with trepidation, willing it to be as important and powerful and richly constructed as Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave.
Some frankly wont, and this is also by design by Nate Parker Im sure: taking as the story of Nat Turner, preacher turned avenger for slaves by leading a slaughter of 60 whites, this was the start of a country, drenched in blood and pain while seemingly to be a place where "all men are created equal" (hell, Jefferson is quoted in the very beginning).
His ability to influence other slaves is used by the slave-owners to their own ends, and ultimately by Nat to fight back.Based on a true story, and produced by, directed by, written by and starring Nate Parker, this movie had the potential to be a powerful examination of the inhumanity of slavery.
Now that the controversy has died down and Nate Parker the film maker has been denounced and banished by the political elite, it's time to take a closer look at THE BIRTH OF A NATION as film entertainment.The story of slave hero Nat Turner should be feverish, explosive, and suspenseful.