Emancipation

Director Antoine Fuqua acquires celebrity slapping actor – Will Smith, in his latest project based on a true story – Emancipation, which gives us a glimpse into the life of former slave Peter and his perilous journey to freedom.

Peter, a slave, flees a plantation in Louisiana after he was whipped within an inch of his life. He has to outwit cold-blooded hunters and the unforgiving swamps of Louisiana on a torturous journey north.

And straight out of the bat, my first thought about this movie ten minutes within was “I couldn’t have survived during these times”, the brutality and mindset of white people were so twisted and inhumane.

Emancipation is one of those movies that should strike a nerve in the African-American people and their warped behavior towards white people.

I mean how can anyone expect these two races to get along without any sort of resentment after what their ancestors had to go through? There’s a deeper conversation that has to be held, no piece of paper or writing can ever erase the emotional trauma that has been established.

Thankfully Emancipation is viewed in a black-and-white coloring scheme with vague shades of green and blue now and then, which assists the audience and their viewing experience of the film because otherwise if this movie was done in full color, all you’d see is blood everywhere.

Will Smith’s performance of Peter is a bit wonky due to his accent, however, accent aside he does a remarkable job at making you feel his pain, agony, and desperation as he tries everything in his power to get back to his wife and kids.

Can you imagine fighting an alligator in its territory and coming up clutch? After all those whippings to his back which would leave most people permanently bedridden yet Peter through his belief in God and only God alone could he walk after all that.

This brought tears to my eyes to see such a dedicated, God-fearing man constantly brought to his knees to do the bidding of others.

The same could be said about Ben Foster who plays Fassel the hunter. What a powerful performance, so moving yet devoid of emotion.

You’d think the man enjoyed hunting down black people but his lack of emotion toward finding them brings him no pleasure or satisfaction. The man expresses no emotion throughout the entire movie as if his spirit died on the day his father killed his caretaker, which is truly sad.

But it also reiterates the note that children are born innocent and that all this hatred of superiority is taught to them by their parents.

Another element that makes Emancipation a marvelous movie to watch is the captivating cinematography by Robert Richardson, whose camera angles and close-up shoots are just breathtaking.

You could make a photo album of this entire movie, and the same emotions you felt during the movie would be felt through the pictures alone.

Pacing-wise, Emancipation is a chase movie that revolves around Peter being chased by Fassel all over the Louisiana swamps after his abrupt escape, however, many of these scenes do become repetitive and could have done without but I do understand that there were meant to express the hardships that Peter had to go endure to get his freedom, I mean the man went through hell.

All in all, Emancipation dedicates its time to show us only a glimpse of the hardships that one black man had to endure to achieve any relief of freedom. It also expresses with close borderlines that freedom was never free to begin with, because whilst African-Americans have had to fight for their freedom, the majority of white demography has always had it easy.

Even now till this day, the unfairness against African-Americans still rages on. Otherwise please explain to me why black people born in America with lineages over 200 years are still referred to as “Africa-American”? Whereas the rest of the world refers to them as Americans? Let me digress.

I give Emancipation a 5 out of 5 ratings.

You can watch Emancipation on Apple TV+.

Thank you for reading another review from, LSR. It’s so good to be back ladies and gentlemen.