Harriet (2019)

We've come to an age where we judge a film before we see it, assuming we can know what it is saying. There is a thing going around from people who haven't seen this film that critiques it as offering forgiveness by Harriet Tubman of her white slave keeper. Nothing could be further from the truth when you see this movie. There is no forgiveness presented in that scene. In fact it is a scene of triumph of a woman over a man who has no power over her. Yet people made up their minds.

Harriet takes the approach to tell Tubman's story by setting her as superhero. In this age of comic book blockbusters, Harriet situates her as a superhero and this is her origin story. It's a hard presentation to find fault with. Few examples of heroism in history are as palpable. Tubman certainly was a hero. So the metaphor is a good one.

But like (most) superhero stories, little nuance is offered. Tubman's story here is told rather matter of factly and her role in history is completely made by her and her own will. The film even imbues her with superpowers which might be a little much for audiences to swallow. This isn't a complicated film like 12 Years a Slave. It is a lionization of a (certainly deserving) historical figure. And it is a lovely one. But what it is not is film which centres white people or villainizes black people who found a way to carve out a survival in the age of slavery despite what some critics are saying. It is just a film which wants to celebrate a woman who offered so much to so many. There is no crime in that.

The film succeeds mostly on two pieces; star Cynthia Erivo's rich and operatic performance, and the director's and cinematographer's beautiful work. The narrative might be straight forward and not overly complex and the same can be said for Erivo's work here. Subtlety isn't her approach. Her Harriet is superhero and is as grand as that requires. She makes Harriet the hero the film needs her to be and she is robust and remarkable to watch. She's glorious. As is the world she is shot in. Everything looks so lovely from the costumes to the countryside. This is in the tradition of the hero's story used to create the culture we want to have.

Yet some people don't want that culture so they misread the film's intentions and try to shut down the work of a black woman film maker. It's too bad because we have something to celebrate here as a film and a story.

Harriet
Starring: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Janelle Monae, Jennifer Nettles
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Writers: Gregory Allen Howard, Kasi Lemmons