The Birth of a Nation

The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker, 2016) seems to have been the controversial film de jour. To my mind it's a violent film about a violent time, being Georgia of the 1820s and 30s. The events of Nat Turner's life led him to the slave uprising of 1831, a violent act that was resolved with violence. At an early age he'd been set up as a leader and because he had the ability to read eventually became a preacher in his own community and then farmed out to put other slaves in their place. That then led to his realisation of what he could achieve. All of this is set in place in very well made, written and acted film. Full of nobility and beauty, befitting the importance of the subject matter.