A House Divided (2000) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I can't say enough good things about this low-budget gem. Fine acting and a gripping plot make this a must see. Based on the story of a mulatto girl who returns to her father's plantation to take back what is hers, this tale uncovers many an ugly skeleton in America's closet. It shows better than any other drama(Amistad included!), the refined cruelties of slavery and the obnoxious ideology behind it. The girl, Miss Dickson, returns to a post-civil war Georgia beseiged with a bigotry almost as appalling as slavery itself. Denied the land and house rightfully left to her by her slave-master father(superbly portrayed by the stellar Sam Waterson), she enlists the help of a noble lawyer, who dares to serve justice and not Jim Crow. Together, they trudge towards a final victory which takes Miss Dickson back through the ravages and diappointments of time, where ever since childhood, her 'blackness' and mother's identity have been kept in secret. The film does an amazing job of mixing the past with the present, making them appear indivisible. Resented and rejected by the other slaves, she tries to 'pass' into the white world, which ultimately scorns her, once her 'secret' is divulged. The Miss must confront who she is and that means acknowledging and accepting her slave mother. These scenes between mother and daughter are particuarly poignant and moving. The film shows just how much degradation you had to endure if you were a black woman in 19th century America. Perhaps the best performance of the film was that of Julia, Miss Dickson's mother. The dignity of her character still managed to shine, despite all the endless humiliation she had to suffer. Unlike most slave-period dramas, A House dares to show how whites were also prisoners of their own system of prejudice, one that forbid interracial love. But not rape. The film artfully sculpts the amibiguous relationship between Waterson's character, David Dickson, slave owner, and that of Julia. Despite the brutal rape, the nature of his feelings for Julia remain a series of speculation....did he really feel something for her.....shame at what he had done.....affection....respect..... dependence.....we are never quite sure.....the film keeps you guessing. Like a good film should. If you want a great piece of drama that tells the ignominous story of American racism as it really was and unfortunatley, still is, then A House Divided is the one to watch.

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