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journey

Emancipation – Fight for freedom

December 9, 2022 by Darrel Manson

“We will not ask for freedom. We will not wait for freedom to be handed to us. We will take freedom!?

As one might expect from the title, Antoine Fuqua?s Emancipation is a story of freedom. The true story the film is based on involves a photo known as ?Whipped Peter? (the man?s actual name was Gordon), which became an icon of antislavery fervor during the Civil War. The photo shows a man with severe scarring from the punishment he endured. But the man in the photo also went on to fight in the war to free others.

The film is the story of Peter (Will Smith) who is torn away from his family and forced to help the Confederate Army build a railroad. The first quarter of the film details the severe conditions the enslaved workers dealt with. This was a time and place where black lives truly did not matter (at least to the white people involved). Some of the men were worked to death. Others were killed out of savagery, perhaps even sadism.

The middle half of the film begins when Peter and a few others escape the camp. Their goal is to reach the Union army in Baton Rouge, because they have heard that Lincoln has freed slaves. They just need to reach the Union forces to achieve that. But Baton Rouge is several days away through swamps. Peter must survive the dangers of the swamp (alligators, snakes, flies) and avoid Fassel (Ben Foster) and his crew of bounty hunters (and dogs) who are determined to bring him (or at least his head) back to the camp.

The final section of the film is after Peter reaches the Army. (At this point, the famous picture is taken.) He hardly finds emancipation. Instead, the only options for him are to work on the farm or joining the army. When the time comes, the black soldiers are sent in first as more expendable. Peter shows his innate leadership and grit. In time, the army will continue to other areas and bring freedom to the enslaved at the plantations?including the one where he left his family.

One of the key qualities the script gives to Peter is faith. We first see Peter in his cabin with his family. They are gathered as he washes his wife?s feet and quotes bits of Psalms about God?s goodness and protection. When he arrives at the camp, even in the midst of the savagery, he claims that God is with them. Another of the enslaved men seeks to rebut this idea, but Peter holds firm. In battle, his faith continues to support him.

Fuqua and Director of Photography Robert Richardson have created a very drab and gloomy world. The film often seems to be in black and white, but actually, the colors have been desaturated, leaving only glimpses of colors, usually red and a bit of green. This emphasizes the bloodiness of the work camp and the war. It also makes the natural world of the swamp just as threatening as the world of men and their hatred.

The film leads us to consider something of the nature of freedom. The fact that Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation didn?t really free anyone. It could only be effective if the Union won the war. Even when Peter reaches the Union lines, he is still treated as less than a real person. Even though he had reached a place where freedom might be possible, he would never be truly free until he could get back to his family and liberate them as well. Freedom, it seems is not a gift bestowed by a president. In this film, freedom is that which comes from within and requires the strength and struggle to be made a reality.

Emancipation is in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+.

Photos courtesy of Apple TV+.

December 9, 2022 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: AppleTV+, Film, Reviews Tagged With: action film, Civil War, Faith, journey, slavery

Finding Dory – Finding a Way to a Forgotten Home

June 16, 2016 by Darrel Manson

?What if I forget you? Will you ever forget me??

FINDING DORY

Finding Dory, as you might guess from the title, is centered on the blue tang from Finding Nemo. In this sequel (co-directed by Andrew Stanton, who directed Finding Nemo, and Angus MacLane), we get to see Dory (again voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) in her childhood as her parents try to teach her how to manage in the world in spite of her short-term memory problems. When the inevitable happens and she can?t find her way home, she begins the journey of her lifetime, trying to remember what she?s lost until she literally runs into Marlin in the Nemo storyline.

The story then moves up one year to a point where Marlin (Albert Brooks), Nemo (Hayden Rolence), and Dory have settled into a calm, steady life. Until one day Dory realizes that she must have had parents and that they are probably worried about her. She has an occasional flashback that gives her little clues. She is determined to set off across the ocean to Morro Bay, California and the Marine Life Institute. Of course, with her forgetfulness, this is not a journey she can undertake on her own. Marlin and Nemo set off with her.But like Odysseus, she must find ways to navigate the many obstacles along the way.

Like Odysseus, she does so with her own ingenuity, plus the help of others who care about her. Among those who help her find her way home are Hank (Ed O?Neill), a curmudgeonly octopus; Destiny (Kaitlin Olson), a very nearsighted whale shark; and Bailey (Ty Burrell), a beluga whale who has bumped his head and messed up his echolocation skills. Each of those she meets brings their particular skill to the journey, but more than anything else, Dory?s own skill for adaptation and innovation are the most important.

FINDING DORY ? When Dory finds herself in the Marine Life Institute, a rehabilitation center and aquarium, Hank?a cantankerous octopus?is the first to greet her. Featuring Ed O'Neill as the voice of Hank and Ellen DeGeneres as the voice of Dory, "Finding Dory" opens on June 17, 2016. ?2016 Disney?Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

The title, besides tying this film to the previous one, also points to the real journey, not just to home, but to self-discovery. Dory, with her memory issues, at times feels very inadequate. However, because she doesn?t know failure (she can?t remember failing) she is always optimistic about what she can accomplish, often with wonderful results. Her motto is ?there?s always another way.? When all others think nothing more can be done, Dory keeps going. It is not only Dory who discovers that this is an amazing gift, others along the way, especially Marlin, discover that asking themselves ?what would Dory do?? can be a very helpful approach to any problem.

FINDING DORY

Dory?s longing and search for home is something of an archetype of literature. I alluded to Homer?s Odyssey above, but this story can also be found in the Bible?the Exodus and later the Exile and return. It was during the Exile that a Psalmist wrote:

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you. (Ps. 137:5-6, NRSV)

That is the very fear Dory expresses to her parents at the beginning of the movie?and the reality that she has had to live with through her life. Her journey to ?home? is an act of hope. She has no idea if her parents are still there or if they even want to see her again after all this time. Perhaps they are angry that she got lost. Perhaps they have forgotten about her. Yet, she sets out with the hope not only that she can find them, but that it will be a wonderful reunion. This is a story that is rich in hope. In spite of the obstacles, Dory believes there is a place for her at the end of her journey. Little does she know that her hope (and her faith and love, if you want to bring the three cardinal virtues together) will touch and transform many along the way?including herself.

PIPER

I would be remiss if I didn?t also mention Piper. Pixar films always come with a short that opens the screening. Piper is the story of a young (and very cute) sandpiper whose mother is trying to coax him out of the nest to feed itself. It is scary to leave the nest, but becomes even scarier once a wave knocks Piper over. Piper too has a voyage of self-discovery, although it is only a few yards. Without denigrating Finding Dory or any of the other Pixar films, I usually come away saying ?the short was even better than the feature.? I applaud Pixar for giving us such wonderful short films.

Photos courtesy Disney-Pixar

June 16, 2016 by Darrel Manson Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Albert Brooks, Andrew Stanton, Angus MacLane, animation, Disney, Ed O'Neill, Ellen DeGeneres, Finding Nemo, fish, home, hope, journey, Kaitlin Olson, octopus, Odyssey, Piper, Pixar, sequel, Ty Burrell

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