Free State of Jones

Dir: Gary Ross

2016

****

As much as I want the story to be true, and as much as Matthew McConaughey looks like the infamous Newton Knight, Gary Ross's Free State of Jones isn't quite the full story. However, upon release, Ross was criticized for his treatment of the story (based on the books The Free State of Jones by Victoria E. Bynum and The State of Jones by Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer) in regards to both structure and script, with many critics condemning it as being 'too Hollywood'. I couldn't disagree more. I think political misunderstanding played a role in it and I think people probably wanted an escape from politics when it was released in June 2016. Much of Newton Knight's actions around the time of the American Civil War are disputed, you'll have to make up your own mind as to whom you believe but he lived to the ripe old age of 84 and died in 1922 with his own story unchanged. I fell Gary Ross stuck to the important issues though and he also explored aspects of his story that hardly ever discussed. It came as a bit of surprise, but some way into Free State of Jones the viewer is suddenly taken forward eighty or so years to a Mississippi Court Room in the late 1940s. Here, we see one of Knight's descendants being tried for an illegal marriage. Davis Knight, who was about as white in complexion as a Caucasian could be, was accused of being one-eighth of black descent and under Mississippi law at that time he was considered black, and therefore could not legally marry his long-time sweetheart who was white. He was sentenced to five years in prison. However, his conviction was thrown out by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1949, rather than risk the law being declared unconstitutional. It's brilliantly spliced into the main story and adds a layer to it that helps further the audience's understanding that the constitution and local authority have always been two conflicting entities and that nothing really changed deep down. It's a bold statement but there is weight to it as this film points out. Labels are thrown around quite a bit these days, 'All men are born equal' is a biblical quote, but try telling that to your racist Christian uncle. I would suggest that the direction was far from the Hollywood standard, I found it to be quite fresh and exciting and I thought it helped the story along greatly. Sure, I would have liked to have seen a Paul Thomas Anderson version of the film but credit due to Ross, it's a hugely underrated film. Matthew McConaughey is more than alright, alright, alright and the supporting cast are brilliant. Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Rachel Knight and Keri Russell as Serena Knight, Knight's 2nd and 1st wife, are very good and Mahershala Ali is very strong as free slave Moses Washington. This isn't a 'white people helping black people' 'happily ever after' movie either, the conclusion puts heed to that, instead it is a progressive exploration of people working in unity. These people were dragged through the mud and then one day stopped and asked whether that was okay or not. Independent though, a dangerous thing for those in control, Knight fought back and we should admire it, and maybe learn something from it. A tremendous film, content aside, it's handled beautifully and deserves far more credit than it has received so far.