EMANCIPATION

US, 2022, 132 minutes, Black-and-white/Colour.

Will Smith, Ben Foster, Charmaine Bingwa, Stephen Ogg, Mustaf Shakir, Paul Ben-Victor, David Denman.

Goodbye Antoine Fuqua.

The title immediately suggests freedom, especially for the slaves in 19^th-century America, the abolition-movement, the leadership and decisions of Abraham Lincoln, his declarations, then the legislation for emancipation.

A note that Emancipation is filmed in a combination of black and white and desaturated colour.

This story, based on actual characters and events, is set in 1863, Lincoln’s announcement, but the slaves themselves not being informed by their taskmasters, hearing rumours, taking advantage of many possibilities for escape. And there is always the danger of professional shooters gunning down the “runners”.

We are introduced gently to the central character, Peter, transported from Haiti to Louisiana, his being gentle with his wife and daughters. But, abruptly, he is commandeered at gunpoint to work on a site where a railway is being built. Audiences have become familiar to scenes of African-American slave labour, but they are always jolting to watch, the sneering cruelty of the overseers, the yolks over the slaves, the collapse of the old, dead bodies being tossed into a mass grave, shooters setting the dogs on the men – but the continued defiance of the slaves despite the oppression.

Peter is played by Will Smith. (A situation note – this is Will Smith’s first film after the notorious Oscar-slap, a test of his popularity, a test of his reputation, a test of his acting skills.) This is quite a different character and performance by Will Smith, gaunt, lined, grizzled hair, chin beard, looking more like Samuel L.Jackson than himself. He presents his character with great strength, some tenderness, concern for others, dignity even in his being pursued.

The oppression by white masters is dramatised by the shooter, Jim Castle, played in his familiar, but always effective, grim, silent villainous mode by Ben foster.

After the setting up of the scene, the characters, the camp, the central part of the film is actually Peter’s escape story, in the swamps, using his wits, shot in the leg but defying his wound, eluding the dogs (and we remember that Jim Castle had taunted Peter, tied up, holding his dogs snapping in Peter’s face). The escape is relentless, Castle and his men ruthlessly pursuing, Peter ultimately finding a mansion where the white owners have disappeared leaving a wounded black slave. And this is a sequence for a confrontation with some of the pursuers.

However, there is more to the film and its latter part, Peter meeting the military reserves, the black platoons, his being sworn into the military after the recovery from his wound an ordeal, the march to the site of the railway, a vivid portrait of hand-to-hand combat, seen at close quarters, filmed from the air, a reminder of the do-or-die combat of the Civil War.

One of the features of the film, based on fact, is war photographers wanting to photograph Peter, discovering the mesh of whipping-scars on his back, a photo that went around the world as a critique of slavery and violence. The actual photo is reproduced during the final credits.

Perhaps the best slavery film of recent years is the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave by Steve McQueen. But, Emancipation, directed by Antoine Fuqua (best known for action and detection thriller is, often with Denzel Washington) is a worthy associated treatment of the themes.

1. The title? Expectations? American slaves, the South? 1863?
2. The location photography, the use of saturated colour, black-and-white, the effect? The landscapes, the railway-building camp, the quarters of the slaves, the mansions, the cotton fields, the pursuit through the swamps, the military headquarters, the hospitals, the march, the battlefield, the fighting sequences? The musical score?
3. The film based on a true story, Whipped Peter, his story, escape, fighting, the classic photo, his lacerated back and scars, the taking of the photo, its circulation around the world, condemnation of slavery?
4. 1863, Lincoln and his decisions, whispers in the south, the slaves overhearing? The possibility of escape? The pursuit of runners and their being shot, the shooters in their pursuit on a horse, the dogs, the men in the squad and their cruelty?
5. The situation, the quarters of the slaves, the families, the women working in the fields, the guards, their brutality, the guns, eyeing the young women, the threats of rape and attack? The fathers, working, forcibly removed to work on other projects?
6. The story of Peter, as portrayed by will Smith, Will Smith’s dedication to this performance? Age, lines, gaunt, hair and beard, washing his wife’s feet, the tenderness, coming from Haiti? His being forcibly removed, strength, resistance, working on the building of the rail line, the hard work, lifting the logs, the older men and their collapse, the trench with the dead bodies? The attitude of the overseers? Contempt?
7. The arrival of Jim Castle, pursuing runners, his horse, gun, sitting in his tent, observing? The scene of the camp, and his explaining the harsh background, his racial attitudes?
8. Peter, with the lime at the trench of dead bodies, throwing it in the face of the guards, the group fleeing, Peter with the other three, the dogs’ pursuit, at the river, the hesitant man, mauled by the dogs, interrogated by Jim Fussell, the promise, then shot?
9. The drama of Peter’s escape through the swamps, eluding pursuit, hiding, the mosquitoes, covering himself with mud, his being shot, tending his wound, sharpening the stake, finding the empty heart, some food and water, the beehive, up the tree, the smoke and the others seeing the signal? His encountering the other fugitive, the fugitive up the tree, his being shot? Peter hiding within the tree? The canoe, the snake, the oars, progress? His coming to the mansion, on fire, the owner is gone, the young black slave, her death?
10. The final confrontation with Jim Fussell, the relentless pursuit, at the mansion, Peter killing the two pursuers? The fight with Jim? His death?
11. The military, the authorities, Peter and the treatment in the hospital, the other patients, the amputations, the limbs been disposed of? The presence of the African-American nuns? Peter’s recovery, the photographers, his agreeing to be photographed, posing for the photos, his back and scars, the photo becoming significant around the world?
12. The offer for him to serve in the military, his agreement, giving information to the authorities about the railway building? On the march, the regiment? Arrival at the scene? The battle, graphic, and to hand, at ground level, the aerial shots, the overall view? The dead, the wounded, the effect on Peter? Rallying the troops, attacking the cannons? Overcoming?
13. At the slave camp, his search for his wife and family, at first not seen, eventually seeing them, the reconciliation?
14. Lincoln, the freedom of the slaves, the final legislation, the numbers of those emancipated? Consequent US history, in the south, in the north, continued racial prejudice?