Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Brett Smith
Starring: RJ Cyler, Gerran Howell, Ewen Bremner, Carol Sutton,
Thomas Jefferson Byrd
The "War is hell" tropes come early in writer/director
Brett Smith's feature debut, Freedom's Path, as we focus on the psychologically scarred young soldier whose
voiceover tells us he's unsure of his role in the conflict he's found
himself caught up in. The conflict is the US Civil War and the young
soldier is William (Gerran Howell). He's on the Union side but we
soon get the impression his loyalties are purely based on geography,
fighting for the North simply because that's where he's from.
After a skirmish with the Confederates, a wounded William drags himself
away from the battlefield and is found by a group of escaped slaves.
Just as they're debating whether to leave him to die or take him to get
help, they're attacked by a group of slave hunters led by the ruthless
Silas (Ewen Bremner). All are killed save for one, the teenage
Kitch (RJ Cyler), who fights off an attacker, leaving a knife in
his leg, and drags William to the safety of the home of a family of
freed slaves.
Thus begins one of those classic narratives where a wounded soldier
finds himself in unfamiliar circumstances and bonds with his rescuers as
his wounds heal. Kitch is a member of the Underground Railroad, helping
escaped slaves make their way to the Canadian border. Exaggerating the
seriousness of his wounds, William does his best to avoid getting into
further conflict, but when he realises the true evil of Silas, who is
determined to find and kill Kitch.
Much like the controversial
Green Book, Freedom's Path is another tale of black and white
protagonists forming an unlikely bond. Like that film, its naivete is
borderline offensive but the chemistry between its leads is undeniable.
How much you buy into the growing bromance between William and Kitch
will depend on your level of cynicism towards race relations. Lines of
dialogue like "If it weren't for the colour of your skin I'd swear you
boys were kin" will either have you reaching for the tissues or the
vomit bag. At one point that old line about how we all bleed red is even
brought up as the film makes the most basic points about equality.
The script often has the innocence and clunkiness of a piece of
Christian filmmaking, but visually Freedom's Path is
surprisingly polished. Chris Koser's cinematography is so
accomplished that I was surprised to find it's only his second fearure.
His work goes a long way to capturing the sticky heat of the American
South, and the contrast between its natural beauty and the human cruelty
staining its cotton fields. Combine Koser's work with a moody score by
Ryan Taubert and Freedom's Path looks and sounds as
good as any big-budget Hollywood depiction of this era of American
history.
At over two hours, the movie takes an awfully long time to make a very
simple point and ask why can't we all just get along? But some of that
run time is alleviated by the impressive performances on display. Cast
against type, Bremner is truly menacing, even if he is playing little
more than a tobacco chewing redneck stereotype. Cyler and Howell's
chemistry cements over some of the weaknesses in the script, and it's
telling that the most effective moments aren't those in which the former
is delivering a crude lecture on oppression, but rather when he acts as
a human crutch for his new friend.
