Apple TV+: Review of EMANCIPATION: Scars of a Slave

December 11, 2022

Peter (Will Smith), his wife Dodienne (Charmaine Bingwa) and their children lived and worked as slaves at a cotton plantation in Louisiana under very harsh conditions. Peter was forced to leave his family behind to work on the railroad construction. He overheard his masters say that Lincoln had already set all slaves free. He decided to run off into the marshes to seek out his liberation. However, slave driver Fassel (Ben Foster) was hot on his trail.

This is another film about slavery in the American South, so you sort of already expect that there will be graphic depictions of cruelty of the white masters, treating their black slaves worse than their farm animals. From "Uncle Tom's Cabin (1927) to "12 Years a Slave" (2013), "Roots" (1977) to "Underground Railroad" (2021), these acts of inhumanity against African-Americans have been shown and re-shown on both the big screen and on television. 

Brutal scenes of torture and abuse in slavery were never comfortable to watch. Nowadays, with advances in makeup and special effects, these scenes have become more life-like, more painful and more disturbing than ever. The same is true about scenes that bring audiences right in the middle of the violence and death as a band of soldiers charge against the enemy head-on in a battlefield. This film has both of these types of scenes. 

The main focus of director Antoine Fuqua in this film was Peter's escape and survival in the wild. So, this actually felt more like an action film set in the mid-19th century. Here, Peter was able to cheat death so many times from knife wounds, wild animals, and even gunfire on the battlefield. A couple of times, he was already staring death in the eye with a revolver pointing at his head, yet still he managed to narrowly escape. Too lucky to be realistic.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson (3-time Oscar winner for "JFK," "The Aviator" and "Hugo") gave this film a washed-out color palate, practically black and white, only to be with the appearance of bright color in some scenes, like those where there are flames. One particularly remarkable scene was that of haunting scene of Peter wandering in pitch black night, and then a horse on fire galloped past him. 

The story of the film was inspired by a famous photograph of a shirtless slave showing off his back criss-crossed with scars of past whippings. This photograph was distributed around the world to highlight the cruelty of slavery in the United States. However in this film, the key scene of the photographers meeting Peter happened too randomly, not given too much due importance. It was not even explained clearly how they knew the condition of his back. 

The main reason people are watching (or maybe NOT watching) this film is because of its star, Will Smith. Before his controversial slap earlier this year, best actor nods would have been inevitable. His portrayal of Peter was powerful in his stoic dignity, with a final scene so emotionally moving even if you saw it coming. He will need more time and good films for him to repair his marred reputation and woo his fans back.  7/10.