Harriet 2019

     This film is based on the life of an iconic American freedom fighter, Harriet Tubman.  She escaped from slavery and transformed into one of America’s greatest heroes.  She had courage, ingenuity and tenacity and she freed hundreds of slaves.  She also changed the course of history.

     Harriet experienced visions and it is likely that she did have these episodes.  She had a  brutal head injury when she was a young girl.  When Harriet leaves the plantation, her name is put on a list of conductors.  There are four names visible on the list.  The first name isn’t clear but the other three names are Lewis Napoleon 21-2 (91.3% success rate), Moses Pinkett 28-5 (84.8%) and John Clay 43-7 (86.0%).  Harriet claims she had never lost a slave and her rating was 100% success rate. 

     This film is intense and the violence is often upsetting and almost all aimed at black characters both free and slaves.  Some die from brutal beatings and gun violence.  Families are separated when slaves are sold and slaves tell stories of the what they have experienced in their lives.  Harriet took 19 trips into the South to bring more than 300 slaves to freedom.   

125 min, Action directed and written by Kasi Lemmons and also written by Gregory Allen Howard with Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Omar J. Dorsey, Henry Hunter Hall, Tim Guinee, Nick Basta, Joseph Lee Anderson, Antonio J Bell, CJ McBath, Alexis Louder, Aria Brooks, Janelle Monae.

Note:  Imdb 6.5 out of 10 with 16,345 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes 73% with 217 critics 97% audience with 12,138 ratings, Roger Ebert 3* Tomris Laffly, Common Sense Media, Sandie Angulo Chen, age 12+, positive messages 4*, role models 4*, violence 4*, sex 2*, language 3*, drinking drugs & smoking 1*, The Guardian 4* out of 5* Simran Hans, Washington Post 3* Ann Hornaday, Amazon 4.7* out of 5* with 13,866 reviews.

Special Note:  This is the first feature film to be made about the life of Harriet Tubman.  Cynthia Erivo was chosen for the title role because she had won a Tony, Grammy and Emmy for The Color Purple musical on Broadway.  Leslie Odom Jr. also won a Best Lead Actor in the musical Hamilton.  Harriet Tubman was 5 feet tall and Cynthia Erivo is 5 foot 1 inch.