Saturday, March 29, 2025
HomeCultureFilm - Free State of Jones

Film – Free State of Jones

Free State of Jones should be a great film. It deals with a little known rebellion in the South of the USA against the Confederate army during the American Civil War. There were a small number of these regions where locals, including Confederate deserters and escaped slaves, declared their independence and attempted to secede from the Confederacy and join the Union.

Newton Knight (Matthew McConaughey) deserted to return to his home County of Jones in Mississippi and lead a rebellion against the Confederate’s tax men and its overtly pro-plantation owner laws. It’s a fascinating story about the horrors of war, slavery and racism, and an important part of American history.

If only the film had stopped there. The first two-thirds of the film that cover Knight’s role in these incredible events is poignant and interesting at historical and personal levels. Knight falls in love with a slave girl while building an army and leading the rebellion.

The rest of the film is a potted history of racial struggles in the South over the next 100 or so years – emancipation, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, the origins of the civil rights movement; all based around Knight’s family and his comrades but told in a rush of chronological leaps at odds with the deliberately paced earlier passages.

It’s a shame that Free State of Jones doesn’t subscribe to the less is more principle. Sure it’s based on a book but no director or writer should feel obliged to portray every page they’re basing a film on. If Free State of Jones had more focus it would have been even more powerful and left an even bigger impression.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

spot_img
- Advertisment -spot_img
- Advertisment -spot_img

Chau Chak Wing Museum returns human remains to Papua New Guinea

The University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum has repatriated 16 human crania to Papua New Guinea.

Coming soon – new space for Aboriginal culture and creatives

The City of Sydney has approved a new Aboriginal cultural space to be created in Redfern.

Consistently good coffee, food and service

Andres, the manager at Coffee Tea & Me at 93b Redfern Street, thrives in the fast-paced environment of the café, embracing the morning rush.

‘I’m a minister of religion – here’s why I oppose restrictions on protest around places of worship’

The NSW government recently passed legislation restricting rights to protest around places of worship.

Volunteers’ News – March 2025

Volunteers’ News – March 2025.

School of Rural Health welcomes new medical students

The School of Rural Health is excited to welcome the 2025 cohort of first-year medical students, who will undertake the University of Sydney’s entire four-year Doctor of Medicine program in Dubbo.