Two influential Black creators combine as "Moonlight" director Barry Jenkins transforms Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel into a powerful TV series.
The novel and the TV series play on the fantasy that the Underground Railroad was an actual train networkImage: Amazon Prime Video
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The 19th-century network of secret routes and safe houses that was developed in the US to help enslaved African Americans escape to free states or Canada was referred to as the Underground Railroad.
Those who guided the enslaved people were known as "conductors," while hiding places such as private homes, churches and schoolhouses were "stations," "safe houses" or "depots." The people organizing these locations were "stationmasters."
In his 2016 novel, The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead transforms the secret network into an actual railway that runs through tunnels.
The novel won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, with the committee praising its "smart melding of realism and allegory that combines the violence of slavery and the drama of escape in a myth that speaks to contemporary America."
Upon reading Whitehead's book, Oscar-winning director Barry Jenkins immediately knew he wanted to adapt it — not as a feature film, but rather as a TV series, which was for him the best way to convey the scope of the work.
All 10 episodes of the limited series have now been released worldwide on Amazon Prime as of May 14.
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Shattering the American myth
As a child, Jenkins imagined the Underground Railroad to be something like that described in Whitehead's book, with tracks and tunnels allowing escaping Black people to ride trains under the earth.
When he eventually realized that it was only a metaphor, it felt like finding out "that Santa Claus and the tooth fairy aren't real," the filmmaker told Sight & Sound magazine. But the realization was accompanied with a new understanding of a horrifying system of slavery.
Far from trivializing the horrors of history, the magical realism of the novel — and now the series — rather emphasizes the nightmare experienced by the slaves whose labor built the wealth of those living "the American dream."
Even if there's an actual train, escaping from the living hell of a Georgia cotton plantation is not a simple ride to freedom. After they manage to escape, the story's protagonist Cora (portrayed by Thuso Mbedu) and her friend Caesar (Aaron Pierre) quickly realize that the threat remains, even in states with apparently progressive policies toward slaves.
And slave catcher Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton) is never too far behind, accompanied by his loyal 10-year-old Black sidekick, Homer (Chase W. Dillon). The man is obsessed with hunting down Cora since her mother was the only slave who managed to escape from him.
Thuso Mbedu in the role of Cora, right, with another breakout star of the series, William Jackson HarperImage: Amazon Prime Video
A personal story
Barry Jenkins also felt a strong connection with the novel's main character. The pain Cora feels from being abandoned by her mother — who left the plantation without her — is one of the girl's main motivations to escape slavery.
"I felt the same thing with my mother," the filmmaker told public broadcaster NPR, "because for the first 25 years of my life, I didn't understand why she didn't take care of me. I didn't understand why I was estranged from her."
As Jenkins revealed after winning the best picture Oscar for Moonlight in 2017, like the boy portrayed in that film, his own mother was addicted to crack cocaine and he was raised by another woman.
Two of the world's most acclaimed Black creators
With his follow-up novel, The Nickel Boys (2019),Colson Whitehead became the fourth author in history to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction twice.
Colson Whitehead's next novel, 'Harlem Shuffle,' is to be published on September 14, 2021Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Vennenbernd
Meanwhile, following his Oscar sweep with Moonlight, Jenkins suddenly became one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. He has since adapted novelist James Baldwin's If Beale Street Could Talk into another critically-acclaimed film, and has been hired to direct Disney's Lion King prequel.
But even before the author and director were included in the 100 most influential people list in Time magazine in 2017, the two were discussing a screen adaptation of The Underground Railroad.
In fact, even before he directed his first feature film, Medicine for Melancholy, in 2008, Jenkins already wanted to adapt Whitehead's first book from 1999, The Intuitionist, but couldn't afford the rights.
The filmmaker did, however, manage to option the rights for The Underground Railroad before Moonlight opened. Instead of discussing previous films on slavery, he convinced the novelist by citing as inspiration works by Paul Thomas Anderson such as There Will Be Blood (2007)and The Master (2012).
Barry Jenkins became one of the most sought-after Hollywood directors following his surprise Oscar win in 2017Image: Reuter/M. Blake
A redemptive narrative
Even though the series combines stylistic influences from world cinema, previous screen representations of slavery — from the 1977 TV adaptation of Alex Haley's Roots to Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) — were the touchstone that allowed Jenkins to go one step further with The Underground Railroad.
Like those works, the story realistically depicts the brutal reality of slavery in the 19th century. But through its fantasy elements, it offers another level of redemption — the sense that Black creators are now taking this painful narrative into their own hands.
Hollywood films on racism
From Spike Lee to Barry Jenkins, many directors have released films dealing with the issue of racism against African Americans in recent years. Here are some of the most significant.
Spike Lee has long made films critical of racist structures in the US. Pictured here is a still from his upcoming new film, "Da 5 Bloods." Lee had his directorial debut in the mid-1980s. Through films like his 1989 comedy-drama "Do the Right Thing," he became known for taking up serious topics, like inequality, with a touch of levity. "Da 5 Bloods" tells the story of four black Vietnam vets.
In 2014, African-American director Ava DuVernay depicted a high-point in the civil rights movement in 1965, when she traced the march of civil rights activists and others across Alabama between the cities Selma and Montgomery. The film was the subject of controversy in Hollywood; some speculated it had been passed over at the Oscars because actors had stood up for the rights of black Americans.
Image: Studiocanal
Controversy over Oscar-winning 'Green Book'
Peter Farrelly's "Green Book" won many awards, including the Oscar for Best Picture in 2019. But the story of a white chauffeur (Viggo Mortensen, l.) and a black pianist (Mahershala Ali), based on true events, was considered by critics to fit too easily into the "white savior" narrative and did not delve into the pain of racism against African Americans in the US deeply enough.
Image: picture alliance/AP/Universal/P. Perret
Best film in 2017: 'Moonlight'
"Moonlight," directed by Barry Jenkins, tells the story of an Afro-American homosexual man in three chapters. Convincing in its aesthetics, "Moonlight" is an example of a cinematic work that differentiates and subtly translates its theme without melodrama or sentimentality.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/D. Bornfriend
Original and surprising 'Get Out'
One of the most idiosyncratic contributions to the subject of racism in cinema is "Get Out" of 2017. Unlike many well-intentioned but sentimental Hollywood films, African-American director Jordan Peele focused on genres, depicting racism with elements of horror and comedy — an extremely original and convincing genre mix.
"12 Years a Slave," which opened in cinemas in 2013 and won the Oscar for best film the following year, takes a deep look back into the origins of slavery in the US. British director Steve McQueen staged the racist drama with prominent actors — thus winning over the Oscars' Academy.
Finally, another film that garnered an Oscar can be linked with the subject of racism, in a broad sense. The 2018 Marvel film "Black Panther" focused for the first time on a black superhero. Marvel Comics creaters Stan Lee and Jack Kirby invented the story characters in the 1960s at the height of the civil rights movement.
Image: picture-alliance/Marvel Studios
Sensitive approach: 'Loving'
In 2016, US director Jeff Nichols surprised audiences with the sensitive drama "Loving," another film that deals with a historical chapter of North American racism. It depicts the struggle of a couple who rebel against the law of forbidden mixed marriages — and succeed in court.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMAPRESS.com/Focus Features
A loaded romance: 'Queen & Slim'
In 2019 Greek-American director Melina Matsoukas debuted with "Queen & Slim," a variation on "Bonnie & Clyde." Set in today's United States, a young black couple seeks refuge after the main character kills a cop in self-defense on their first date. Melina rose to fame for directing music videos for Rihanna and Beyoncé, among others.
Like Melina Matsoukas, John Cassavetes was also a white US director with Greek ancestry. His debut film, "Shadows" (1959), tells with great sensitivity the story of three African-American siblings in the New York music scene. At the time, few other directors in the US had come close to authentically portraying life in this artistic circle.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives/IFTN
A look back: '12 Angry Men'
The 1957 film "12 Angry Men" was one of the first works of US cinema to deal with racism. Primarily a legal thriller, the film debut by director Sidney Lumet was about the prejudices of 12 white jurors in court, who are supposed to issue a verdict on a young Puerto Rican.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archives
Sidney Poitier in 'In the Heat of the Night'
In the 1960s the subject of racism gained a foothold in mainstream cinema. In the drama "In the Heat of the Night," Poitier plays a policeman from the North who has to solve a case down South. There, he is confronted with unfathomable racism. The film was awarded five Oscars — and Poitier became the first African-American superstar of US cinema.
Image: picture-alliance/United Archiv/TBM
Taboo-breaker: 'Mississippi Burning'
"Mississippi Burning," the 1988 film by Briton Alan Parker, tells of the disappearance of three civil rights activists and the ensuing FBI investigation. One critic wrote: "Parker's gimmicky directing (does) pretty much everything to turn 'Mississippi Burning' into a gangster movie rip-off. Yet the film breaks a taboo: it places a whole group of the white American middle-class in the wrong."
Image: ORION PICTURES CORPORATION
A new generation: 'Boyz n the Hood'
African-American director John Singleton made headlines with his first film in 1991, which he directed at age 24. "Boyz n the Hood" is considered groundbreaking for its authentic portrayal of the lives of the black population in an impoverished district of a major US city. He was the first black person, as well as the youngest person ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director.
White Hollywood stars often portray racism as something that happens outside of the USA. In the sports drama "Invictus," Clint Eastwood tells the sensational story of the South African national rugby team in the years after apartheid was abolished. Morgan Freeman played the role of freedom-fighter Nelson Mandela.
Image: AP
Documentary inspiration: 'I Am Not Your Negro'
Apart from the many feature films that American cinema has contributed to the subject of racism in recent decades, there are also documentaries. "I Am Not Your Negro" by Haitian director Raoul Peck of 2016 was very convincing. Peck relied heavily on texts by African-American writer James Baldwin.
