Americas 250th Birthday Cinemathon #19: Harriet (2019)

 

One of the great heroines of 19^th Century history is Harriet Tubman, a Maryland slave who, after escaping to Pennsylvania, headed back south to rescue other African-Americans from bondage. Sadly, some of the awesome stories about her are likely the results of oft-fictionalized 19^th Century biographies, but she’s still a woman worth celebrating. Her story has been told on television, most notably in the 1978 miniseries A Woman Called Moses (I would have watched this one if I didn’t already have many 3-4 hour movies coming up). Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 2019 that we got a theatrical depiction in the simply titled Harriet.

The movie was actually considered back in the 90s, but shockingly a Hollywood executive, believing a black female lead couldn’t carry a movie, suggested that Tubman be played by Julia Roberts! Anyways, Cynthia Ervo would get the role when the movie finally swung into production. She does a good job, playing an initially frightened runaway slave before becoming a determined and tough heroine. Also, unlike in 12 Years a Slave, we get a good dose of the slaves’ Christianity. Tubman’s head was once struck and split open, whereupon she received visions. She claimed they were from God, and some sources claim that they indeed helped her successfully evade capture when guiding slaves to freedom. I was pleased to see that they had a scene of her threatening to shoot a runaway when he wants to go back to his master. This actually happened a few times in real life. Harriet knew that if a slave had second thoughts and went back, he could endanger the whole group.

Harriet is full of real figures, many of them just cameos. The most recurring is William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.) a black abolitionist in Philadelphia who helps organize the Underground Railroad. He provides some of the film’s best humor as he’s both awed and baffled by Harriet Tubman. The reverend Samuel Green (Vondie Curtis-Hall), did indeed help Tubman on her way to freedom, and his story is interesting when you look it up. Apparently Green was literally sent to prison for having a copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (he was freed early as emancipation gained steam in the Civil War). Thomas Garrett (Tim Guinee), perhaps the most successful conductor on the Underground Railroad, gets a big scene, but doesn’t appear much despite his long real-life association with Tubman. Frederick Douglass and John Brown get little cameos, though historically the latter didn’t get his Old Testament beard until later events.

Alongside the wealth of characters are a few new ones, and these somewhat strain historical credibility. There’s Bigger Long, a brutal slave-catcher who happens to be black. Such figures were extremely rare, but not unheard of. He was probably included to show that some blacks would sell out their own people for an advantage. Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae) is the most modern invention, a black female hotel owner who mentors Tubman on how to act like a freewoman and also how to wield a pistol.

The Brodess family is a mix of reality and fiction. As in real life, the Brodess patriarch dropped dead after Tubman prayed for God to strike him. His son Gideon is made up and is suggested to have a weird crush on Tubman, one I don't think really makes sense. While Harriet did return to free more of her family, the movie takes things a step further by making her take a second return trip to rescue more. It is a little cartoonish having Harriet steal slaves from the same family three times.

Harriet rescues her niece

I should address a few more inaccuracies, though a few were made for proper dramatic effect or to streamline the narrative. First is Harriet’s name. She was originally called Minty Ross. The movie has her change it to Harriet Tubman after her escape to protect her identity and also claim her new free self. She had actually changed it during slavery after her marriage to a free black (who is accurately shown in the film remarrying after her escape). The Fugitive Slave Act is also inaccurately shown. The abolitionists talk about how now slave catchers can just come up north and reclaim runaways. Actually, this was already possible. The Fugitive Slave Act just made it easier for blacks to be taken back to slavery, meaning the Underground Railroad would now have to get them all the way to Canada. The filmmakers justifiably didn’t want to get into all the complexities of the laws and it does create the movie’s big emotional low point.

The movie does tease us with a cool idea for another film. The end shows Harriet Tubman leading an amphibious Union operation to liberate slaves in the Combahee Ferry Raid. This is more of a closing moment to show that Harriet now has more power behind her efforts to free her people, but it would make for a great episode of a TV show. It was in fact the first time a woman led a US military operation and the fact that an illiterate former slave woman did it makes it all the more incredible.

Harriet Tubman only actually freed about 70 slaves throughout the 1850s. She outdid
herself ten times over with the Combahee Ferry Raid when she freed about 750.

I really loved this film when I saw it in the theater, but on my rewatch I thought it was just fairly good. Some of the characters could use more fleshing out and a couple escape scenes more excitement. Still, this is an entertaining way to see Harriet Tubman in action and shows some care in research.

Rating: 6/10