On Apple's platform, Antoine Fuqua's monochrome western 'Emancipation' has been released — a film that, in concept and execution, could easily compete for prestigious awards. But somewhere along the way, something went wrong. Why the work of the Fuqu...
1860. The confrontation between the North and the South in the USA. The slave Peter () is forcibly transferred to a more difficult work site. His wife and children remain with the former master. Learning that Lincoln's army is recruiting freed slaves, Peter escapes and heads to Baton Rouge – the location of the Northern troops. He has only one desire – to become free and return to his family, no matter what. And on the trail of the fugitive is already the seasoned bounty hunter Jim Fessel ( Ben Foster ), for whom capturing Peter becomes a deeply personal matter.
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Open materialmade a straightforward, simple film, without intrigue or unexpected twists. The movie follows a clear course, loudly announcing stops-chapters: the hero's abduction, escape, survival in the swamps, the army, liberation. No deviations. Therefore, you can understand how 'Emancipation' will end after the first 20 minutes.
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Open materialThe result is a kind of mix of 'The Revenant' and a darker version of 'Django Unchained', where the heroes were driven by a desire for revenge and saved by love for a woman. In 'Emancipation', Will Smith is also saved by love – for his wife and children. For their sake, he is ready to endure everything: the pursuit of a bounty hunter (magnificent Ben Foster), hunger, pain, swamps, fatigue, and even a fight with a crocodile (a brilliantly shot scene). And then he can take revenge. But that's not certain.
Fuqua seems deliberately unwilling to accept reality and shoots against all odds, even his own ability to competently stage a good action film. Can he be praised for such boldness? Probably yes. Such intonations in cinema are rarely seen these days, and perhaps they are on the verge of disappearing. And Antoine Fuqua transparently hints at this and is a little sad about it.
'Emancipation' is unlikely to shine anywhere near 'Django', '12 Years a Slave', or 'Green Book' (well, except maybe in streaming recommendations). It is not different, but not similar either. Tarantino has a dashing exploitation, Farrelly and McQueen have deep dramaturgy. Fuqua has neither the first nor the second. The desire to sit on three chairs at once ultimately led him to three well-known pines, where Fuqua got lost, never deciding what would be the main pillar of the story.
Despite the experience and a set of excellent tools, coupled with wonderful actors, Fuqua's 'Emancipation' turned out to be long, colorless (literally), sterile, and, to be honest, a boring and unengaging film.
It feels like a certain formalism instead of a deep statement on a sensitive topic, and Will Smith once again repented for the scandal at the Oscars (although filming of 'Emancipation' began long before that).
In the end, no one managed to open a new horizon. Fuqua will most likely breathe a sigh of relief and start working on a new part of 'The Equalizer', while Smith will desperately look for new ways to return to the cinematic Olympus.
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