Movies about slavery are considered 'trauma porn' by many audiences these days, particularly African American ones. Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) was a powerful look at the minutiae of the relationship between master and slave and an indictment of the practice as a whole.
Will Smith's Emancipation aspires to that kind of impact but there are a couple of factors that prevent it from standing out amongst other 'runaway-slave narrative' movies. Antoine Fuqua is known for his blisteringly slick action directing and he brings this style to Emancipation.
However, this is a story where the scenes should be able to pause, breath, recalibrate. Smith's Peter is fighting for his freedom while trying to evade killers. Yet, what's going on is much deeper than a simple cat-and-mouse game between Peter and Ben Foster's moustache-twirling villain Jim Fassel.
Peter represents a system that subjugated African Americans while it bolstered its capitalistic growth on the backs of their labour. While some of the scenes are exciting, we're not given a chance to appreciate the nuance of what's really going on in the full scope of the story.
According to Fuqua in his interview with Deadline, cinematographer Bob Richardson chose to give the film the look of an "alien planet, where you cannot believe human beings treat each other this way." The colour of the movie isn't just black and white but also has an odd, brown-tinged hue; it's sometimes difficult to tell if characters are black or white.
The appearance of the film distracts from the visual storytelling and content. Additionally, the landscape is so bleak and forbidding that there appears to be no ray of hope. When Peter does finally reunite with his family, it's surprising that the film doesn't go to full colour to signify change.
Another aspect of the film that keeps it from living up to its promise is weak character development: we barely get to know Peter before he's on the run. And once he's on the run, it's all action, no introspection.
The character of Jim Fassel is a stereotypical slave owner with no gradations to his character, and most of the other white characters are one-note as well. At the beginning and end of the film, Jim tells Peter he's his god. The line is delivered like it's from a weighty stage-play monologue, instead of carrying the energy that Emancipation requires to keep it from feeling staid.
Though Peter travels a great distance, his journey feels claustrophobic. We're not aware of how far he's travelling because he never encounters anyone new to speak to until he finally gets to the camp. Despite all of his injuries and the fact that Fassel and his posse are in close pursuit, Peter's perseverance seems to cause him to leap physical hurdles instead of emotional chasms.
Fassel says that Black people are persistent. Peter is indeed unerringly persistent but his quest for freedom is deeper than obstinacy. His faith in God is the engine that drives his steadfastness.
However, Fuqua's singular focus on Peter's physical journey diminishes his spiritual expedition. We don't discover that Peter is from Haiti until the third act, an important fact given that it incorporates Black people from the African Diaspora into the slavery narrative.
Christianity wasn't something that was introduced to Peter when he arrived in America – it was likely a practice his family already had.
While Peter's fight with the alligator is exciting, it doesn't feed the story beyond the typical physical trauma that the slave narrative rests upon. We know that Peter has had to endure a lot; the famous photo of his scarred back tells us of his tortured life.
So it's unnecessary for us to go on a physical journey with Peter at the expense of the exploration of his individual mental and emotional anguish. The way that type of emotional sediment is created is by displaying Peter's interactions with other people.
We get a brief glimpse of Peter's interaction with his family and Fassel. Because we're aware of the general horrors of slavery, it's the personal aspects of Peter's life and interactions that we need to become familiar with, which would allow Emancipation to be more than another 'runaway-slave narrative'.
With Fuqua's direction and Bill Collage's script, Peter is moulded into a slave boogeyman instead a living, breathing person who's fighting against an evil institution that uprooted him from his homeland and placed him in this strange, unkind and dangerous world where his life is valued less than an animal's.
The saving grace of Emancipation is Will Smith's passionate, raw performance. Even with the off-putting colour of the film, his emotions are corporeal and powerful. It may not add a fresh take to the slave story canon, but it's worth a watch for Smith.
Emancipation is now out on Apple TV+.
