Paper Example on Harriet: The Fight for Freedom and Liberation

The title of the film is Harriet, directed by Kasi Lemmons. It is based on the American abolitionist Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery to liberate people suffering from the same vice through various campaigns mainly from the underground railroad (Clinton 253). The film unravels the struggles black freedom fighters had to go through to liberate other people from oppression and inhumanities such as slavery. It makes viewers think about the world differently, feel, and examine the different perspectives on freedom. The film is acclaimed by its presentation of the struggles of African American people. It captures the imagination with its well-presented scenes shot with adequate lighting to give high-quality pictures. Ann Hornaday from the Washington Post says." Clear, linear, sometimes bluntly obvious, Harriet? is a rich, enlightening portrait? As sturdy and straightforward as the title character herself” (Hornaday 105).

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The movie's lighting is excellent, seeing how there is a seamless combination of camera movement and the quality of shots. The kind lighting application used in the movie makes the pictures vivid and more lucid, enhancing the experience of watching the movie. Practical lighting application enables lighting in all angles to produce perfect shots. The movie was shot in Virginia and in different locations giving diversity to the scenes and the exotic look of the different landscapes presenting a look similar to colonial times. Produced by perfect world pictures, the movie was released on September 10th, 2019. There are different scenes in the movie that help to bring the issue of slavery and the struggle for freedom into perspective. Turban was a brave woman, and in one of the scenes, Tubman reminds the escapee that dead Niggas tell no tells and points a revolver at them, commanding them to stay or go. She is fierce and has a forceful personality and vows never to go back to slavery again.

Turban does not take into account the consequences of her actions, even if they risk her own life. The movie is based on a true story of an African American woman, Harriet, to free her fellow African American’s who are still in slavery. Harriet is the first film that solemnly features Tubman's life because, as opposed to other American heroes, she did and has not received the kind of scholarly attention required of a hero. Her individuality was overlooked, and a broad spectrum thrown as of her contribution to free others was not a walk in the park, but she had to face many challenges with some of her relatives passing away. Award-winning costume designer Paul Tazewell designed the costumes used in the movie. Her first appearance, the clothes she is wearing, depicts the time of that era, and that kind of clothing was common at that time. It portrayed a different economic level in comparison to the white masters. All the costumes depict a level of growth for the main character and the movie. The cinematographer of the movie is John Toll, and he helps to bring out the unbelievable journey of Tubman to the heroine she is known today long after her death. The picture in the scenes is brought into sharp focus, making the object of focus visible, clear, and relatable. The movie's point of view is that slavery was wrong, and it took a lot of sacrifices and difficulties to come out of slavery. The camera in this film was placed at strategic places, and sometime in the making of the film, the camera had to be placed on a boat in the middle of a lake to take pictures of The lead actor crossing the lake.

Works Cited

Clinton, Catherine. "More than Ready for Her Close-Up: Harriet Tubman on Screen." Reviews in American History 48.2 (2020): 253-263.

Hornaday, Ann. Talking Pictures: How to Watch Movies. Basic Books, 2017.