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Abe Abraham
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[Cinema] Will Smith, slap return?

Post by Abe Abraham » 07 Dec 2022, 00:07

From my French Source :
  • [Cinema] Will Smith, slap return?

    “Emancipation” is inspired by the story of “Whipped Peter”, a black slave who is remembered for the barbaric treatment inflicted on him by his masters. (Photo: Apple Inc.)

    Emancipation is out this week in the United States with Will Smith in the starring role. The actor's first appearance since his slap in the face of Chris Rock at the Oscars, will this historic film on a serious subject manage to get rid of this cumbersome label?

    It was meant to be a poignant film about a slave's escape through the Louisiana swamps, but before its US release, Emancipation got an unexpected label: it was Will Smith's first film since his slap in the face at the Oscars. What worries its director, Antoine Fuqua.

    Hollywood professionals were instead betting on a postponement because of the scandal, but Apple, which produces the feature film, decided to release it this weekend on US screens, despite fears of a possible public boycott.

    “I am very worried about this”, confides Antoine Fuqua, who hopes that the message of his film will not be swallowed up by the scent of sulfur surrounding its main actor. “I hope that the public will have enough compassion to at least go and see the work he has provided, because what he does in the film is extraordinary,” adds the director.




    Before shocking the world by slapping comedian Chris Rock on the Oscars stage over a questionable joke about his wife's hair loss, Will Smith had conquered Hollywood since the 1990s and "was a man well, in front of all of us, for 37 years”, recalls the filmmaker.

    Inspired by real events

    Emancipation is inspired by the story of "Whipped Peter" or "Peter the whipped", a black slave passed on to posterity for the barbaric treatment inflicted on him by his masters, before he escaped from a plantation cotton during the American Civil War. The photos of his back, completely lacerated by the whippings, have gone down in history as indelible proof of the brutality of slavery.

    Will Smith embodies this character escaping from the clutches of cruel masters, and whose escape Antoine Fuqua imagines through the sticky swamps of Louisiana, filled with alligators, snakes and other dangers. The director films this quest for freedom in the style of a suspense thriller, more than a historical drama, and shows the abuse inflicted on slaves head-on. The brutal scenes of violence are reminiscent of those in the Oscar-winning film 12 Years a Slave .

    Will Smith's performance is undeniable, but many critics wonder if the actor's return to the screens is premature, just eight months after his slap. Banned from the Oscars ceremony for ten years, after having himself resigned from the Academy, the former Prince of Bel Air can in theory still be nominated and win a statuette. The release of Emancipation this month also allows Apple to propose its film to the Oscars.

    Memorial debates

    Will Smith, who has publicly apologized, "was wrong" to get carried away during the last Oscars, insists Antoine Fuqua, hoping that he is reconciled with Chris Rock far from the spotlight. But "Will is a good guy, I support him," adds the director. During the difficult filming in the swamps of Louisiana, the actor “never complained”, he underlines.

    In addition, the filmmaker insists on the imperative need to release Emancipation , at a time when memorial questions around slavery are causing multiple tensions in the United States.

    “There are discussions not to teach slavery in certain schools, as if they wanted to erase the past,” Antoine Fuqua is indignant. The Republican Party has strongly opposed reforms that considered changing the way slavery was taught and addressing systemic racism.

    American children should not be "learned that our country is inherently evil," conservative Senate boss Mitch McConnell and other lawmakers said last year.

    Antoine Fuqua draws a parallel between this resistance and the clichés of "Whipped Peter", which were necessary to silence the voices that tried to minimize the horrors committed in the name of slavery at the end of the 19th century . "That's why it's so important to keep museums open, to bring all these things to life," he said. "A lot of kids don't even know what slavery is."