Harriet [DVD]

Ignore the bad reviews, see the movie, and make up your own mind. I have a bias here, because Harriet Tubman has been my #1 personal hero for most of my life. But that bias made me worry that the movie would screw things up, so I started watching the movie with a bias against it. I was blown away. And I am a total crab about movies. I’m the grouchy old lady who stomps around grumbling that they don’t make truly great movies like they used to. This is a truly great movie, the likes of which I have not seen in a very long time. Cynthia Erivo’s performance as Harriet Tubman is so magnificent that she seems to be channeling Tubman. She conveys, without a single false note, Tubman’s transformation from a brave but scared woman into a bold and confident leader. In general, the acting is superb. To give only two examples: Leslie Odom Jr. is splendid as the Black abolitionist William Still. And how a sweet country singer like Jennifer Nettles managed to come off as a queen-of-evil slave owner is beyond me, but she did it. I get the creeps just thinking about her character. The story is gripping, with well-developed characters that viewers care about and a lot of suspenseful action. Tubman’s courage was jaw dropping, and the movie leaves viewers in no doubt about this. She went south again and again and again to lead slaves to freedom, at terrifying risk to herself. Where did she get her courage? Tubman was quite clear about this: It came from God. Tubman also said that God sent her visions which warned her of danger and foretold the future. To its great credit, the movie respects Tubman enough to take her at her word. Her religious experiences are presented as real. Period. Take it or leave it. If you’d rather leave it, that’s perfectly fine. You'll still enjoy the movie if you interpret her uncanny sense of danger as nothing more than keen intuition. There was nothing pushy about Tubman’s religion. She was quite frank about her religious experiences, but she didn’t try to shove her religion down anyone’s throat. The movie is in no way anti-Black. There are only two Black bad guys in the movie, and one of them does something quite remarkable. Virtually all of the scum in the movie are White. But the movie also shows White people who put themselves in danger to help slaves escape. Some viewers mistakenly think the movie shows that Tubman was in love with a White man, her slave owner Gideon. What the movie clearly shows—SPOILERS AHEAD, all in parentheses—(is that Gideon had a sick obsession with Tubman, that he was a narcissist who mistakenly thought she liked him, and that he went nuts about all of this because she was Black. So why didn’t Tubman shoot Gideon dead when she had the chance? Not because she loved him, but because she thought he didn’t deserve an easy death.) (This is what Tubman told Gideon, after shooting off part of his hand: “You’ll die right here. On a frozen, blood-soaked battlefield, the moans of a generation of young men in your ears, dying in agony around you, for a lost cause. For a vile and wicked idea! For the sin of slavery! Can you hear them? God don’t mean people to own people, Gideon! Our time is near! You tried to destroy my family, but you can’t. You tried to destroy my people, but you won’t. God has shown me the future, and my people are free. My people are free!”) (That doesn’t sound like love to me. It sounds like justice, as in: “Let justice roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Amos 5:24.) (There’s a real irony in this misunderstanding, because Tubman does fall in love—with a Black man, after her husband marries another woman. Of course, he can’t help falling in love with her. Unfortunately, he’s married, so they don’t do anything about it. This is presented with such exquisite subtlety that many viewers may miss it, especially given the trend in movies to just splat things out. It’s presented more directly in an outtake that’s included with the DVD—a outtake that makes your heart ache. If the movie’s director had known how badly some viewers would misinterpret the movie, she probably would have kept the outtake in.) END OF SPOILERS. This movie rightly celebrates a genuine American superhero, and does it in a highly entertaining way. The movie is truly inspiring, and we could use a lot of inspiration these days. Don’t miss it.

Great movie

Great movie.

This actress did an amazing job portraying Harriet. It is a movie and we will never know precisely her real personality or the interactions that took place. With all movies "based on real events" there is liberty taken to fill in the gaps of detains we simply do not know of conversations and detailed events. This is a creative and realistic movie, NOT a documentary on the life of Harriet. Some of the negative reviews stated she was in love with a white man. Actually the movie does not depict that but infers she was in some kind of relationship of a romantic/sexual nature (does not go into detail) with her owner's son. Since she grew up with the boy one can see this may have taken place and is not so out of the ordinary as something that did not happen. These relationships between slave owners and slaves happened quite frequently and fell into many categories from genuine love to abuse. Reviews also suggest it depicts black men in a bad light. I am white European and I did not perceive black men in a bad light in this movie. In fact it depicted the heroism of black men. She was the main hero and in many ways stood out from her counterparts (who happened to be black men) and the movie was focused on that. It is not in any way to undermine black men, but to show how extraordinary she was. If she was a black man in the role these reviewers would not have suggested it portrays black men in a bad light. Hmm I wonder what that's all about? Do they feel intimidated by the fact that this slave rescuer was a woman, or do they subconsciously think a woman should not be recognized for such heroism or even perform such acts? Maybe she just outshined some men. OK accept that possibility! The reviewers also commented negatively that the movie portrayed black men supporting whites. Well not all the black men in this movie helped the white slave traders. The movie accurately portrayed what was going on in that time. Even during the reign of the Nazis some Jews helped the Germans capture and imprison other Jews. It's history and we should not censor this truth. People do unexpected things in desperate times for personal gain. The movie was great, watch it!!! I wish I processed 5% of this woman's courage. I do not know where she mustered the strength, but of course she attributes it to God.

Awesome movie

One of the best true movies I think I have ever watched.

シンシア・エリヴォが好きで何度も何度もこの映画を観ました。セリフ１つ１つを覚えてしまうくらい観ても毎回泣けるし感動します。 他のレビューにもある通り、販売されているものは海外リージョンの為、日本語訳が無くリージョンフリーのデッキでないと観ることが出来ませんが、 アマゾンプライムでは有料になりますが日本語訳のついたものが視聴出来ます。この歴史に残る素晴らしい作品が日本版DVDで販売されていないのは本当に残念でなりません。映画内のアングル、エンドロールのデザインまでが美しいです。主演がシンシア・エリヴォだからこそ実現した、レスリー・オドムJr、ジャネール・モネイの出演も嬉しい驚きでした。シンシア・エリヴォの素晴らしさはもう言葉では表せません。DVDだとメイキングやカットされてしまったシーンも観れるので更に理解が深まります。

A very good film based on the true story of Harriet Tubman who in the US in the mid 1800s escaped from slavery herself, then went back to save hundreds of others from slavery. She achieved her aims with the help of slave abolitionist William Still, all the time she risked capture and death, she was also a member of the Underground Railroad movement. It is a very watchable and informative film about a woman who I had never heard of before I saw the film on FILM4.

Film excellent, j'ai adoré je recommande rien que pour l'histoire qui est très prenante et les personnages attachants, très addictif comme film. 🙂

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