Harriet

In 1994 a biopic of slavery abolitionist Harriet Tubman was heading towards pre production in an unnamed Hollywood studio. Julia Roberts was wanted for the part. Of course Harriet Tubman was black. "It was so long ago. No one is going to know the difference" a studio executive argued. Sweet jesus. So much has changed since then. And on the other hand not much has changed at all.

In 1849 a slave by the name of Araminta Ross tired of a life of bondage and decided to run for her life after a chance of a free existence with her husband was denied to her by her owner. The trip from Dorchester county, Maryland to the city of Philadelphia was a long and dangerous one and she only survived with the help of the underground railway, a collection of free folk and sympathisers who offered food and shelter to fugitives along the way. Eventually arriving in a safe city she sought out the help of the Pennsylvania anti slavery society who documented her time as a slave and set her up with a new life and a new name. She was free but plagued by visions of her family who were still living a life of slavery. So she decided to go back for them.

Imagine the guts that required. A flight from hell followed by a willing return back into the fire. That's why Harriet Tubman is so well remembered 170 years later. The Moses of the southern states. So effective at her work that no one would believe a woman was capable of it. Cynthia Erivo plays the part of Harriet with a fiery conviction and is totally believable in the part. It's just a pity the rest of the film doesn't live up to her performance. There's too much going on, time flies by too fast, Harriet's journey's to the antebellum south have her flitting around like a new world ninja and as such there's little sense of the danger the real Harriet must have been in everytime she went on a mission.

It's a drama made for audiences with a short attention span. One that feels it has to hit the crowd pleasing beats a modern audience needs. As such it takes from a powerful story that demands a bit more reverence than it's shown here. The 12A approach dulls the film's effect too. No one wants misery porn but tiptoeing around the horror of the era doesn't help anyone either. The slavery era was a horrifying time for black people in America. The 2010's are still a horrifying time for black people in America. People need to be reminded of the horror so it doesn't go that way again but sadly sometimes it feels like it's already too late.

All that said it is an effective watch in places. Little moments linger, like running to a safe place for a long awaited hug, terrified of being seen. Small things we all take for granted were grounds for death back then. The happiness of a parent seeing a child they'd assumed gone forever. The feeling of betrayal when a loved one has moved on. A nighttime lake crossing. The postscript ending where we find out what else Harriet was capable of. The glorious way she conveyed messages to her family. Eviro is front and centre in all these little slivers of greatness and makes them her own. The mighty Clarke Peters makes a good showing as her father too & Janelle Monáe is very effective is a small role that shows off the other side of black life in those times of hardship.

Harriet isn't a bad film at all but it just feels like it could have been a lot better. Had director Kasi Lemmons narrowed it's focus to a specific part of Harriet's life instead of trying to cram too much in it could have been something special.