The Birth of a Nation (2016)

Nat Turner, a literate slave and preacher in the antebellum South, orchestrates an uprising.

Director:

Nate Parker

Writers:

Nate Parker (screenplay by), Nate Parker (story by)

Stars:

Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Penelope Ann Miller

3 wins & 29 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nate Parker	...	Nat Turner
Armie Hammer	...	Samuel Turner
Penelope Ann Miller	...	Elizabeth Turner
Jackie Earle Haley	...	Raymond Cobb
Mark Boone Junior	...	Reverend Walthall (as Mark Boone Jr.)
Colman Domingo	...	Hark
Aunjanue Ellis	...	Nancy
Dwight Henry	...	Isaac Turner
Aja Naomi King	...	Cherry
Esther Scott	...	Bridget
Roger Guenveur Smith	...	Isaiah
Gabrielle Union	...	Esther
Tony Espinosa	...	Young Nat Turner
Jayson Warner Smith	...	Earl Fowler
Jason Stuart	...	Joseph Randall

Storyline

Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat's preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself and his fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates an uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.

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Plot Keywords:

preacher | torture | illiterate | southern | rebellion | 

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Taglines:

A Battle Against Slavery.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, and some brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Norman Jewison tried to establish a film project about the life of Nat Turner in 1969.

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Goofs

The accents used in the film are typical of the modern deep south, not of the Tidewater region of Virginia in the first half of the 19th century.

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Quotes

Nat Turner: You need to tell me who done this to you. 'Cause I'm gonna take care of it, you hear? On my soul. I need you to tell me now.
Cherry: "Put up again thy sword into His place. For all they that take the sword... shall pass with the sword." You taught me that.

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Connections

Featured in Rise Up: The Legacy of Nat Turner (2016)

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Soundtracks

Bloodline
by Georgia Ku
(p) 2016 Atlantic Recording outside of the United Statesand WEA International Inc. for the world outside of the United States.
© 2016 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

User Reviews

A disappointment

I strongly disapprove of the fact that this movie has gotten a lot of IMDb thumbs-down from people who most likely haven't seen it, but just disapprove of a movie about slavery, as well as one whose director has a problematic past.

However, that's not what I'm writing about here. I DID see the film (at a film festival), and my disappointment is based on the movie itself, not politics or anything else external. "The Birth of a Nation" is about a very important chapter in US history, yet it sanitizes that history to a ridiculous degree. I think most non-blatant-racists can agree that an uprising amongst slaves is a thing that inherently generates empathy. Yet this movie apparently doesn't agree--it needs to sanitize the mental health of Nat Turner (who was on record as saying God directly told him what to do from an early age) as well as pretend women & children weren't killed in the Turner uprising. I'm not saying these things were justifiable. What I'm saying is that they're part of a complex historical record, and shouldn't have been left out of a movie that purports to tell the "truth." That would be fine if "Birth" were one of many Nat Turner movies out there, but it's the only one most people are likely to see.

It's also a pandering, middle-of-the-road "inspirational" movie, so much less complex a take on slavery than the recent "12 Years a Slave." While that movie was a work of art, this is more like a TV movie in style and content. I just wasn't impressed by it. I wish somebody would make great Nat Turner movie. This isn't it. And sorry, a bad populist telling of the tale isn't better than no telling.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Birth of a Nation

Filming Locations:

Savannah, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$8,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,004,254, 9 October 2016

Gross USA:

$15,861,566

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$16,779,212

Company Credits

Production Co:

BRON Studios, Creative Wealth Media Finance, Follow Through Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1