The Birth of a Nation Movie Essay Example

Nat Parker's 2016 film the "The Birth of a Nation" was inspired by the slave uprising that took place in Virginia led by Nat Turner. Its director, Nate Parker also co-wrote and co-produced it. It attracted a lot of attention for both the good and the wrong reasons. It's the first feature film about the story. Even though the film is first of its kind, it lacks the wild spark and suffers from drawbacks from poor directing and acting in some scenes.

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"The Birth of a Nation" is the first film on Nat Turner. Even though the subject has never been explored before, the film style is pretty much nothing new. Since the movie retells the story of the slave rebellion, Parker uses simple techniques as it is not only conventionally paced hut also cheesier in its emotional effects. It is clear through how the movie sticks to the fundamentals of a true story since the director was only keen on merely telling the story once again. One of the evidence of the film's success in retelling the uprising is the theme of sexual exploitation which the film effectively explores. One of the primary motivating factors for the slave uprising that inspired was sexual exploitation. It would have done a disservice to the slave rebellion if it failed to bring out sexual exploitation as one of the central themes.

Wild spark makes movies, however, "The Birth of a Nation" lacks the same. Parker retells the story in a very earnestly and sincerely. Most of the time, people look forward to watching a film, but this movie is one that can right be classified as a "for-your-consideration" kind of film. Even though it effectively retells the story of the slave uprising, that is not the essence of movies since they should have something that will make someone make an effort watch it. The movie has nothing much that a person who knows about the story may find to be so interesting. Even though the movie has some poetic touches, it quite disappoints since when one expects a startling scene then it more or less "preaches." A lot of captivating scenes would probably have made at least more interesting.

Most of the parts of the movie are well acted but interestingly, Parker's performance is more of a drawback than a plus to the film. Most of the scenes in the film focus on Parker, sometimes giving the rape victims little screen time when they deserve more. It makes the film appear as if it an advertisement that hypes the creator cum star as a new icon in the market. In addition to his acting skills, his directing skills to serve as a drawback to the film. He attempts a little of anything and most of the time, a lot of all things. However, it is understandable since the movie is the first to tell the story of Nat Turner and the rebellion that he led and also it serves as his debut.

Conclusion

In brief, "The Birth of a Nation" retells the story of the slave uprising that is a key aspect of the U.S. history. The film attracted attention since it is the first one that shows the story which it delivered effectively as it stuck to the basics of retelling a tale. However, it lacks the wild spark that makes movies more captivating and the acting and directing suffers some significant drawbacks too. Despite that, it is a good film that anyone looking to enjoy watching the story should definitely look for it.