A free black man who is a professional violinist is abducted into slavery, leaving behind his wife and 2 children. He is mistreated and has to hide his ability to read and write.
How appropriate for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The simple plot developed into many episodic side-stories about all of the things which happened to this man. The main characters were him, a female slave and a few slave owners. It's pretty clear to define protagonist and antagonist in this setup. The video all looked really good. I liked that exposure was done so well because I've seen it done badly so frequently. Audio was fine, but there was some whisper acting. I got a version with good English subtitles though. Moral and ethical implications of films seems to be something that needs to be addressed when reviewing stuff like this and 125 Years Memory (2015). The scene with Chiwetel kind of being saved from being hung was disturbingly powerful. It should be obvious that slavery is/was bad and wrong. The question to ask is whether today's monetary and psychological slavery is any better than physical slavery was back then. Their thoughts were their own and they could see and hear clear evidence of being someone's property. We are faced with a barrage of things which try to manipulate our thoughts and cannot see or hear the master's whip and chains. I rate this adequate because I liked watching it once and it was made well, but I wouldn't watch it again. You may want to check it out.
