This was a film that had the potential to be an epic. It falls far short of that label, but it is still at least a "good" film -- well above average (hence my "7" rating) -- and worth watching.
The opening scenes capture in vivid detail the horrors of mid-19th warfare, where lines of troops got ripped to shreds walking in long rows directly into the enemy's musket and cannon fire. The horror continued for the wounded, who were subjected to the barbaric battlefield hospitals and surgical techniques of the day, which included no anesthesia and filthy conditions. All of this is captured vividly and in great detail in the opening scenes of the film.
What I really appreciated about The Free State of Jones is that it brings to light a piece of American history that I think few Americans have ever heard about, especially if you are not from a Deep South state. The story of Newt Knight's "secession within a secession" movement was a real eye-opener. In some ways, the Confederacy itself was responsible for generating much of this secessionist sentiment, first by the passage of the so-called "Twenty Negros Law," which clearly favored the large plantation owners over the small, subsistence farmers -- many of whom owned no slaves at all -- and then by the continued taking of the small farmers' food and supplies by the Southern army troops. You would expect the Northern troops to confiscate everything from the Southern farmers; you would not expect the same treatment from your own soldiers who were ostensibly fighting on your behalf. Legally, the Southern troops and the tax agents were authorized to take 10% of food and other property in lieu of payment of taxes. In reality, there was no oversight and the soldiers took whatever they wanted, often leaving the small farm families destitute and facing starvation.
The film inserts flash forwards to a great-grandson of Newt Knight being tried for an interracial marriage in 1960's Mississippi. These scenes were awkwardly inserted and disrupted the flow of the 1860's - 1870's part of the story.
This is a good, but not great movie, but worth watching, especially if you are a devotee of American history. It prompted me to do more research on this little- known part of American Civil War history.
The opening scenes capture in vivid detail the horrors of mid-19th warfare, where lines of troops got ripped to shreds walking in long rows directly into the enemy's musket and cannon fire. The horror continued for the wounded, who were subjected to the barbaric battlefield hospitals and surgical techniques of the day, which included no anesthesia and filthy conditions. All of this is captured vividly and in great detail in the opening scenes of the film.
What I really appreciated about The Free State of Jones is that it brings to light a piece of American history that I think few Americans have ever heard about, especially if you are not from a Deep South state. The story of Newt Knight's "secession within a secession" movement was a real eye-opener. In some ways, the Confederacy itself was responsible for generating much of this secessionist sentiment, first by the passage of the so-called "Twenty Negros Law," which clearly favored the large plantation owners over the small, subsistence farmers -- many of whom owned no slaves at all -- and then by the continued taking of the small farmers' food and supplies by the Southern army troops. You would expect the Northern troops to confiscate everything from the Southern farmers; you would not expect the same treatment from your own soldiers who were ostensibly fighting on your behalf. Legally, the Southern troops and the tax agents were authorized to take 10% of food and other property in lieu of payment of taxes. In reality, there was no oversight and the soldiers took whatever they wanted, often leaving the small farm families destitute and facing starvation.
The film inserts flash forwards to a great-grandson of Newt Knight being tried for an interracial marriage in 1960's Mississippi. These scenes were awkwardly inserted and disrupted the flow of the 1860's - 1870's part of the story.
This is a good, but not great movie, but worth watching, especially if you are a devotee of American history. It prompted me to do more research on this little- known part of American Civil War history.