Harriet

Before I saw Harriet, I was stunned to learn that there had been no previous attempt to bring the life of Harriet Tubman to the big screen.  This was a long overdue film, clearly.  Now that I have seen it, I can't help but wish that it was better than this.  Despite the talent on and behind the camera, the movie falls into an all-too familiar trap for biopics, which treat their subject matter with distance and reverence.  Rather than getting to the human nature of the person at the center, the film treats its subject matter like a book report, or a stop on a museum tour.

Sadly, this movie takes your standard Wikipedia approach, showcasing the actions and specific moments of the woman who did a 100 mile journey from slavery to freedom on her own, and then went on to become a key member of the Underground Railroad, as well as one of the few women who led an armed expedition in the Civil War.  Harriet Tubman, as portrayed in this film by the talented Cynthia Erivo, has been stripped of all personality.  She is stoic at all times, and is quick to give a scripted speech at any moment.  Nearly every line of dialogue she has sounds "self-important", and comes across as if it could be edited to be used as a clip on an award show, which the filmmakers are clearly hoping for.  The movie has had any kind of life or imperfections sanded away, leaving a glossy Hollywood biopic that is never bad, but constantly feels like it has been designed for ultimate audience manipulation.

Harriet follows its titular subject from her days working under a cruel slave master (an unconvincing Joe Alwyn), to her great escape, to her meeting with the abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom, Jr.), to her efforts to travel back to the South in order to free the rest of her family, to becoming a hero in her efforts to steal multiple slaves from their masters, and leading them to freedom.  The script hits on these required notes, but they don't go any deeper than necessary.  We don't learn much of anything about Harriet Tubman as a person, just her accomplishments.  And while I certainly do not discredit anything that she has done, I just wish the film would stop having her making so many speeches, and just give her a genuine personality.  She is constantly kept at a distance, so we never truly learn about what she thinks and feels about her position, and how others view her. 

As if to follow suit, the entire production feels artificial in just about every way.  From the clunky, exposition-heavy dialogue that constantly makes time for characters to give long-winded speeches about the importance of freedom, and especially an overly obvious music score that spells out every word and emotion.  It got to the point where I just wanted the music to stop, and let the scenes speak for themselves.  Everything here feels slick and polished.  Instead of truly exploring its subject or the time period, it just glosses over everything with a very broad brush, then moves on.  I suppose the good part about this is that it will hopefully inspire people to look up the actual person and her story, but at the same time, I wanted less grand speeches and non-stop shots of Harriet being bathed in almost heavenly light, and more insight into who Harriet truly was as a person.

But perhaps the most curious angle that director and co-writer Kasi Lemmons takes with this film is to give it an almost supernatural bent, by seemingly making Harriet psychic.  She can sense and has visions when people are in danger and need her help, or when and where her enemies are waiting for her when she is leading some slaves to safety.  The movie's explanation is that she is receiving visions from God.  A lot of Hollywood films paint real life people as saintly or without faults, but this one takes it to the next level by making her seemingly above and beyond mortals.  Erivo's performance as Harriet simply cannot rise above how her character is portrayed.  She's forced to be steadfast, unflinchingly brave, and almost omnipotent due to her psychic visions, and her portrayal lacks any of the intensity and honestly that she has shown in films like last year's Widows, or even on Broadway in the musical The Color Purple. 

I think the biggest problem with Harriet is that it goes beyond merely honoring her and her accomplishments, and makes her into something almost superhuman.  I know the real Harriet Tubman had fears and doubts, but this movie doesn't want to clue us in on to any of them.  It simply wants to shine a holy light on her, give her psychic powers, and make her into an unstoppable force for good.  In doing so, it robs us of seeing her for who she was, an ordinary woman who did extraordinary things.

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