The 2020 film, “Antebellum”, directed by Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz, immediately gives the viewer a hint of a mystery to come.
It opens with a long uninterrupted shot photographed by cinematographer Pedro Luque Briozzo (using “E o Vento Levou” lenses), depicting a typical southern plantation – the term antebellum means “before the war” – occupied by Confederate soldiers supervising the slaves black people working in a nearby cotton field. The brutality and intrinsic hatred witnessed by a particular slave, a woman named Eden, are unfortunately not new, but the way this is skillfully unraveled forces us to look more deeply.
For what? Well, this is for the public to find out, but for this viewer a number of ideas were already boiling over even before pressing play.
Santa Fe poet Darryl Lorenzo Washington said this succinctly in a recent Facebook post. He said: “If you go through this or any other month of Black History, talking about it lip service, and at the end of the month you cannot tell me a new fact from the history of black Americans that you have learned and devoted to memory, so you didn’t ‘celebrate’ Black History month in any meaningful sense. Just saying. “
In a way, Bush and Renz set out to make a film that tries to address this kind of concern and even puts a Shyamalan touch on what can be an easily disposable film that reexamine more of the same racial conflicts in “19 Years a Slave” films and “Harriet” for “Beloved”, “Django Unchained” and many more.
By ‘same’ I mean the type of visual and emotional shorthand that has evolved by filmmakers who know that the public will recognize certain touchstones that they don’t even need to explain. However, this is not what Washington is referring to by asking viewers to learn and dedicate new facts to memory. These are tropes as common as putting a duster in Johnny Depp’s head to make him look “Indian” rather than delving deeper to understand a complex culture. But, the way they are rearranged in the deck gives a different perspective.
The film (a small spoiler here) doesn’t really take place in the middle of the 19th century, during the period enjoyed by colonial racists before the Emancipation Proclamation changed the South forever. But it involves a black woman named Veronica Henley (Janelle Monáe), who – in the here and now – is a very successful author of books that challenge our very common socio-political swamp of assumptions about race and gender and economics. Intelligent and highly aware of her personal power, she is still, like many people of color today, armored with the kind of contempt and subtle offenses defined as barbs every time she has to deal with certain white Uber waiters, concierges and drivers.
As a hot celebrity, Veronica is also a target, especially by people who want to teach her an evil lesson.
I will not go much further in the plot because there are twists that you, as the viewer needs to discover for himself, but know that, despite their enigmatic nature, they are manipulated in a very artistic way.
“Antebellum” is rated R for disturbing violent content, language and sexual references. It can be seen on Hulu and other online streaming services.
Special event: Art and Activism at the Taos Center for the Arts’ Big Screen @ Home
The Taos Center for the Arts is presenting a special series of films and online presentations on “Art and Activism”, according to TCA director Colette LaBouff.
• “Aggie”, 2020. Directed by Catherine Gund, it analyzes activism from the benefactor’s perspective.
• “Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly,” 2019. Directed by Cheryl Haines, it creates a platform for the voices of others, while speaking for political dissonance in his homeland, China.
• “Lemebel”, 2019. Directed by Joanna Reposi, a queer artist talks about personal homophobia in Latin America.
“These films, all directed by women, bring together the best in contemporary documentaries on Art and Activism,” said LaBouff in a statement. “With a history of highlighting artists who address important social and cultural issues, Projeto Paseo selected films that combine the creative power of art to move us emotionally, with the strategic work of activism that can change our society.”
The executive director of Paseo Project and curator of the film series Matt Thomas says: “Throughout this year, I have been thinking about how the art world can involve people in social and cultural issues. These three films, in three different ways, share how the art world can act as an agitator and political activist. “
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Mitchell Storyteller 7 Theaters in Taos remains closed for the time being in response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Until reopening, we will focus on movie reviews available online and through TCA’s Big Screen @ Home series.