Americas 250th Birthday Cinemathon #22: Glory (1989)

Glory tells the story of the 54^th Massachusetts, one of the first black Civil War regiments. One of the conditions of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation was that, starting January 1, 1863, African-Americans could officially join the Union Army, though many were already giving a big hand with logistical support, thus freeing up more white troops to get to the front lines. The 54^th Massachusetts in particular received much attention because it had the full support of Massachusetts Governor John Andrew and saw action fairly quickly in the southeast around Charleston. Also, as an early black regiment, it got to have the state's distinction in its name while other units were listed as USCT (United States Colored Troops). Already made known in art and general histories, the regiment is certainly well known now because of its 1989 film adaptation.

The movie was the brainchild of New York cultural figure Lincoln Kirstein and screenwriter Kevin Jarre (adopted son of none other than Maurice Jarre, composer of Lawrence of Arabia). Both were inspired by the regiment’s monument in Boston (featured in the end credits), several books (including one by Kirstein himself), and Colonel Robert Gould Shaw’s letters. Shaw (Matthew Broderick) provides narration via his letters, but the quotes are a mix of real ones and fake ones to accommodate the changes made for the story.

Americas 250th Birthday Cinemathon #1: The New World (2005)

 

Since this year marks the 250^th birthday of the United States of America, I’ve decided to mix my love of movies and history. Roughly once a week, I’ll watch an American history film, arranging them in rough chronological order (these movies span any period from a few days to a few decades).

First is up is Terence Malick’s  The New World (2005), which covers the early years of the colony at Jamestown. Malik is a deeply philosophical filmmaker, and he is less interested than the history per se than in its personalities. Thus the movie revolves around a trio of characters. There is John Smith (the competent explorer played by Colin Farrell), the quiet planter John Rolfe (Christian Bale), and most importantly Powhatan princess Pocahontas (Q’orianka Kilcher).

As with many previous iterations, most famously Disney’s controversial animated effort, Malick ages up Pocahontas a little so she can have a romance with John Smith. In real life they had an intergenerational child-adult friendship. Most of the inaccuracies in the movie stem from this decision, as it heavily reframes Pocahontas’ character. For example, when she becomes a member of Jamestown she’s listlessly going through life because she believes John Smith is dead. In real life she was actually very interested in her new home and earnestly wanted to become an Englishwoman and a Christian.