Nightjohn (1996)

Sarny, a 12-year-old slave girl in the ante-bellum South, faces a relatively hopeless life. Her chief duties at the plantation of Clel Waller are serving at table, spitting tobacco juice on... See full summary »

Director:

Charles Burnett

Writers:

Gary Paulsen (book), Bill Cain (teleplay)

Stars:

Beau Bridges, Gerald Brown, Gabriel Casseus

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Beau Bridges	...	Clel Waller
Gerald Brown	...	Joseph
Gabriel Casseus	...	Outlaw
Bill Cobbs	...	Old Man
Deborah Duke	...	Lethe
Shannon Eubanks	...	Fanny Bowen
Bruce Evers	...	Patroller #1
John P. Ford III	...	Arthur Waller
Monica Ford	...	Egypt
Alecia I. Gainey	...	Sarny (age 4)
Bill Gribble	...	Tom - Slave Trader
John Herina	...	Homer Waller
Antwan Isaac	...	Young Man
Allison Jones	...	Sarny
Carl Lumbly	...	John

Storyline

Sarny, a 12-year-old slave girl in the ante-bellum South, faces a relatively hopeless life. Her chief duties at the plantation of Clel Waller are serving at table, spitting tobacco juice on roses to prevent bugs, and secretly conveying intimate messages between Waller's wife, Callie, and Dr. Chamberlaine. Then Nightjohn arrives. A former runaway slave who bears telltale scars on his back, he takes Sarny under his wing and, in exchange for a pinch of tobacco, secretly begins to teach her to read and write, a crime punishable by death. "Words," he says, "are freedom. Slavery is made of words: laws, deeds and passes." He starts by drawing letters in the dirt and cautions her that no one must know. At her baptism, Sarny steals a Bible that belongs to Waller's son, Jeffrey, and practices reading by lantern-light in the slave quarters. The same Bible serves another purpose when, on a blank page taken from it, Nightjohn forges a pass for Outlaw, a young slave, to use in escaping to freedom ...

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Plot Keywords:

slave | plantation | reading | slavery | literacy | 

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Taglines:

Words Are Freedom

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some scenes of racial oppression and abuse

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 June 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Das Ende der Nacht

Filming Locations:

Sumter, South Carolina, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hallmark Entertainment, Sarabande Productions, Signboard Films Production Inc.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Goofs

All the women's dresses have zippers in the back of them. The zipper wasn't invented until 1917.

User Reviews

A engrossing film with solid characters.

I found NightJohn's story and characters interesting. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the film, I didn't think I was going to a Hallmark film, but I gave it an 8. I am usually attracted to tough, headstrong characters and John is definitely in that category. John, a slave, defied the master as well as convincing his fellow slaves of the importance of knowledge, in a world that relies on ignorance to survive. The little girl was also a strong, believable character, as was the rest of the cast.

Beau Bridges did a fine job as the cold-hearted plantation owner, as well as all the other actors in the film. Burnett did a great job presenting the story with a right amount of realism and sentimentality, where many films fail, making them too sappy.

I gave it an 8 out of 10. NightJohn reminded me of The Color Purple, it had a similar style and mood. I was engrossed by the film up until the conclusion where the film became a little too unbelievable. If you loved The Color Purple, I recommend NightJohn.