I really enjoyed "John Laurens' War". A story about standing up for one's beliefs no matter how counter-cultural is one anyone can get behind. This one will have you engaged through its entirety.
John Laurens' War
2017
Adventure / Biography / Drama / History / War
John Laurens' War
2017
Adventure / Biography / Drama / History / War
Plot summary
John Laurens' War is the passionate fight for freedom of young Lt. Col. John Laurens from South Carolina, for every slave in America along with every colonist during the American Revolution. John defies his slave-owning father and British wife to become a fervent abolitionist, ninety years before slavery ended in America. As a top aide for George Washington, along with Alexander Hamilton, John is wounded in four battles and fights a duel to defend General Washington against those attempting to destroy him. Congress passes a bill granting John 3,000 Black slaves to be led by him to fight for their freedom along with the patriot army. The bill is stopped by South Carolina. Phillip, a former slave friend, fights with John to end slavery before the creation of our new nation. John is suddenly killed at 27, in 1782, before achieving his dream of freedom for all in America. The docudrama is narrated by Laurens' friend, British poet/abolitionist, Thomas Day, and two acclaimed historians, who appear as colonials, offering opinions along the way. This film is the winner of nine film awards: Accolade Global Film Competition, including Documentary Feature, direction, leading and supporting actors, cinematography, as well as Gold at Houston Worldfest Film Festival for Cultural Documentary, in Film and Video Production.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
Engaging
I've seen better in highschool proyects
For being a movie about John Laurens we spend most of the time watching other characters. And the time we actually spend watching him doesnt give us much, he is portrayed as a very one dimensional person, with no character flaws, and the perfect example of a white savior.
We get no real insight into his feelings, history or relationships The movie fails to the point that Martha Manning, a secondary character that doesnt appear for much, is one of the more sympathetic and enjoyable characters on the movie, historically inaccurate as she might have been.
Important historical events were completely omitted or missinterpreted, while ones that did not matter, were given way too much protagonism. I understand that the production value probably played a part on this, but there were parts where a minimal effort in research would have avoided most of the mistakes. The movie, in general, in a string of historical innaccuracy after historical inaccuracy, to the point it would be easier to count what they got right.
On top of that the erasure of his relationship with Hamilton is honestly just insulting. I didn't expect it to be actually addressed, and would have accepted the excuse of 'it isnt a 100% proved' if it wasnt for how they put so much focus on his father's relationship with a random spy of which we have so little actual evidence.
The only salvageable thing was that the camera shots were nice, nothing special but not bad. Even though the editing was a bit weird.