Birth Of A Nation

Really good movie. Doesn't surprise me that it's not on Netflix or any other streaming app.

Excellent movie! A VERY disturbing & emotional film that accurately and truthfully shows the HORRORS of chattel Slavery in this Country & abroad. It's hard to watch but shows the Bravery & determination of Nat Turner in getting a measure of Justice for his people!

Hollywood traditionally romanticizes the stories of people who fight for justice, the underdog who struggles against all odds, the rebel with a cause, that is until the story is about people held in chattle slavery. When the stories of enslaved people are told they most often depict the enslaved as content or even happy, as though being owned, forced to work for free and subjected to terrorism on a daily basis somehow wasn't such a bad thing. History teaches us very little about African Americans who fought for freedom from the institution of slavery. Even today, some people are banning books that spotlight these heroes and are fighting to keep this history from being taught in schools. For this reason alone "Birth of a Nation" is important. Nat Turner has long been a fascination of mine. I used to wonder why no one just refused to pick cotton and refused to work for free. Didn't anyone "just say no?" Nat Turner was the first enslaved person I heard of who fought against being enslaved and immediately I wanted to know more but there weren't any mentions of Nat Turner in textbooks when I was in school so I went digging for information in libraries built by people who either had never heard of him or chose to omit him altogether (My search started before the creation of the internet. Yes I'm old). I would learn that Nat Turner was one of many men who organized and staged revolts against the people holding them against their will and I was inspired. I would even say that I was empowered. Knowing that men who look like me and are from where I am from fought for self-determination and independence instills pride in a young man, and this feeling of pride is one of the things the current move against teaching this history hopes to eradicate. When Nate Parker was promoting this movie many media outlets chose to talk about him and his days in college. They dug into his personal history until they went back far enough to find something unsavory, then they redirected the narrative away from the film and focused on creating a scandal. Parker and his directorial debut were being canceled and many people went along with it. Hollywood has made over 100 movies about African Americans facing slavery, racism and segregation. Time and time again their movies ignore our greatness, promote our struggles and profit from our pain. Nate Parker ignored the rules and paid a price. There are some powerful interests at work hoping no one supports Nate Parker or sees this film, but I just did both and I'm very happy.

Incredible film that should be more widely known, about a true historical figure whose story should be told.

Excellent

First of all, it amazes me that Nate Parker wrote, directed and starred in BIRTH OF A NATION. He certainly is one talented actor who lights up the screen with his energy and modest simplicity. As with any film about slavery, BIRTH OF A NATION can be difficult and painful to watch at times. The inspiring yet brutal true story of slave Nat Turner needed to be told. Nate Parker made a decent attempt to explain the life and times of Nat Turner but I think there is so much more to Turner's story. Life as a slave on a plantation in the early 1800's could not have been more dismal. The degree of horrors varied from plantation to plantation and by the whims of the owners. The Turner Plantation (slaves often took the surname of the plantation owner) seems to have a dismal place for slaves but not as horrible as others. Nat Turner learned to read the bible thanks to the kindly wife of the plantation owner. Nat finds love and does his best to have a life despite the confines of slavery. He preaches the bible and is eventually sent to preach to slaves on other plantations on the importance of being subservient to their masters. Turner realizes that for every passage that urges the oppressed to be subservient, there is a passage that demands they raise up against their oppressors and kill them without mercy. Eventually Turner organizes a brutal and violent slave revolt against plantation owners and their families that was a bloodbath of mayhem and murder. Parker tries to tell a well-rounded story to help us understand Turner and the revolt. In the end so much information is lacking, could Turner have encouraged a non-violent revolt or is he a hero of the oppressed? It's a truly fascinating story. I'm not sure how closely BIRTH OF A NATION follows the true story of Nat Turner but the general facts cannot be denied. BIRTH OF A NATION can inspire us for peaceful change and justice but it is a brutal and unnerving film at time. It definitely tells a sad tale in American history with a fine cast of actors.

Beautifully Done Very Insightful And Directly Points Out How So Many Blacks (Grass Roots Which All Come From) Did Not And Too This Current Date Think Critically Enough About the Work Involved To Get Free (Which This Movie Highlighted) And Then Remain Free Of Ones Own Prerogative (This Is Way Many Black Elected Officials Do Not Push As Effectively As They Can For Black Reparation = Because Too Many Of The Grass Roots Have Not Thought Critically Of The Leverage Those Reparation Contain = And With Respect Too The Potential Mockery Involved = I Along With Them Rather Not Provide Than = Too Further Self Inflict Unnecessary Damage To Ourselves On Such A Mass Scale And With No Real Prudent Strategies And/Or Back Up Strategies Emanating From The Mass Of Black Grass Roots Too Maximize That Leverage (After A Minimum Of A Hundred Plus Years Knowing That Is Due Us Very Little Too No Discussion At The Dinner Table, Barber Shop, Church, School, Sporting Events And/Or Improvising Encounter Through Out Our Daily Lives = Its Is Too Big Of A Reparation With So Many Opportunities For Critical Discussion(s') For So Long By So Many = Too Be Handed Over To A Mass Who Choose Not Too Provide Much Too Any Real Thought As To How Such Reparations Could Along With What Other Income We Do Have (Which Could Be Done From Here) Leverage Us Into Comprehensive And As Relentless As Existence Itself A Well Enhanced Self-Providence = And All With Out Being "Revengeful" What The Revended Nate Turner Told The Masses Not Too Seek = Great Learning Tool = Sincerely Alfred R. Sheppard

I found the movie enjoyable and a nice shift from what is usually depicted regarding movies that deal with America's slavery past. I can't think of any other movie that delve into Nat Turner and his rebellion, so finding this movie directed by Nate Parker was great. I also enjoyed how Nate Parker with this movie challenged the narrative of how cinema approaches films that deal with American slavery as this was not a slave movie with the usual tropes, but something different.

I wasn't interested in this film until I happened to catch a preview. The acting is compelling, and the characters (on "both sides") are well-drawn and sympathetic. I honestly hadn't planned to watch it all the way through in one sitting, but got hooked quickly, and couldn't stop until the story was told. While it's very much a tragic story, it's very informative as to why American slavery was so deeply corrupted an institution. Clearly Nat Turner was a good man who did what he believed he had to do. His motivation could not possibly be misunderstood, and was very much about higher principles. Much more than a story of revenge --- a story about what it means to be human, and to stay human.

Beau film, très touchant

Excelente película y edición una grata sorpresa con audio y subtítulos en español, excelente historia mejor que otras con la misma temática. Recomendable y aún muy buen precio.

J'ai acheté ce film après l'avoir préalablement vu sur Canal +, l'an passé. Je tenais à l'ajouter à ma collection de DVD car c'est probablement l'une des meilleures réalisations cinématographiques relatives au douloureux problème de l'esclavage et de la manière dont les esclaves Noirs étaient perçus et traités dans les plantations américaines. Bien qu'il porte sur une révolte brève (48 heures), vite réprimée - et avec quelle monstrueuse férocité ! -, ce film démontre, si besoin en était, que les esclaves ne se contentaient pas de subir leur sort dans une tragique résignation, mais qu'ils étaient également en mesure de constituer une force d'opposition qui, avec davantage de préparation que celle des malheureux mis en scène dans ce film, pouvaient faire flancher le pouvoir des oppresseurs esclavagistes. Même si le destin des révoltés reste tragique, leur courage - porté par une désespérance absolue - impose un respect absolu. Le fait que le meneur de cette révolte soit un prêcheur, dont la pensée contestataire se nourrit des textes évangéliques par lesquels, au départ, les propriétaires Blancs tentaient de légitimer l'amoralité de l'esclavage constitue un très bel exemple d'ironie lexicale et de retournement du "Verbe" contre ceux qui en faisaient un usage totalement perverti. Comme le dit le protagoniste de cette histoire : "Dieu est Amour mais il est aussi Colère". En outre, le film offre une dimension documentaire en démontrant avec quelle brutalité - ou même cruauté - certains propriétaires de plantations (mal)traitaient celles et ceux qui garantissaient leur prospérité, tant économique que domestique. Un film à faire voir à toute personne désireuse de savoir ce qu'impliquait concrètement l'esclavage, non seulement aux Etats-Unis d'Amérique mais aussi (par extension) partout où l'esclavage était pratiqué, à cette époque comme aux époques antérieures et sur d'autres territoires (voir par exemple l'excellent docu-fiction "Bois d'ébène" qui, lui, explique ce qui se passait dans les colonies françaises d'outre-mer à peu près à la même période).

Great movie !!