With the new Will Smith drama, Emancipation, headed into theaters and streaming via Apple + on Friday, December 9, the “do we need another ‘slave movie’” debate has been reignited.
Let us settle it once and for all, shall we? Yes, we need another “slave movie.” In fact, we need as many as it will take to drive home the point that the descendants of enslaved people all over the world – the United States in particular – owe a debt to their ancestors that they can never truly repay. That is not to say that there isn’t a need for full representation of broad and diverse history of Black people. However, bypassing the experience of the enslaved does eliminate a critical expression of the triumphant will of Black people. And Emancipation makes the case that we need another “slave movie” to illustrate that survival – and unyielding sacrifice for the sake of the survival of others – can be the most radical, revolutionary act in moving one’s people forward.
The film is inspired by a true story. It does its best to give insight into the life of a man in a photo that many credit as giving a visual that truly depicts the brutal horror against humanity that was the institution of slavery in America. In the widely distributed photo, only one side of the elderly man’s face is visible, but his entire back – that has been so viciously lashed that his skin appears to be infused with leather. His name is Gordon, but thanks to the 1863 photo, he is also referred to as “Whipped Peter.” His back only told part of the story. The film reveals he was an enslaved Haitian who was sent to Louisiana to work on some of the most vicious plantations in the south. He is a man of family and a man of faith. A series of unfortunate events take him on a quest to find a nearby Union Army battalion so that he can take up arms and join the fight to free his people.
With his portrayal of Peter, Smith is forced to carry a film without his wheelhouse of ingredients that have made him a box office guarantee for the better part of a quarter-century. His impeccable comedic timing, natural charm and authentically organic chemistry are not applicable in Emancipation. And yet Smith’s Peter – stripped down to the emotions of anguish, determination, and faith to the extreme of oppositional defiance – is a performance few could have imagined when he stepped on screen as a rapper-turned-actor.
Fuqua takes quite the opposite approach. He incorporates themes and formulas he has used in his action films and crime capers that gives Emancipation the feel of a hybrid between the Smith led film I Am Legend and USA Network’s brilliant, but short-lived drama Underground. Plenty of time Fuqua’s creative liberties work, especially with the action thriller pace of the film. And while the muted color palate is a brave risk, inconsistences in tones and hues as the story progresses are a distraction from the color scheme that that is somewhere in between color and black and white.
Fuqua carefully avoids the “good white people” trope that is a mainstay in movies that attempt to detail America’s most horrific sin. But the unbelievable moments that are typically reserved for blockbuster action flicks are a deterrent and relentless wide shots are a distraction.
And writer Bill Collage never quite gives Peter the hero treatment he deserves with the minimal dialogue. The film gives more context to Gordon’s life and experience, but the bare bones script doesn’t make provisions for insight into his thoughts and feelings. The determination in the face of unflinching cruelty and terror is the morale, but more story would have been sincerely appreciated.
Smith’s performance is aided by Charmaine Bingwa’s portrayal of Peter’s wife Dodienne and a scene stealing performance by Mustafa Shakir as Captain Andre Cailloux.
Let’s be clear – films that depict the experience of enslaved people are not a cultural betrayal to Black people. That distinction should be reserved for roles and films that feed into the false narratives of moral bankruptcy, diminished interest in family and films that glorify crime and violence without context regarding systemic racism and oppression.
Emancipation opens in theaters in select cities, including St. Louis, on Friday, December 9. The film will also be available to stream on December 9 via Apple +. The film is rated R with a running time of 132 minutes.
