HARRIET Kasi Lemmons Interview Philadelphia

By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

Harriet Tubman, the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad as a superhero. Not in a Marvel sense of course, however an intention to show a woman of extraordinary courage & heroism is behind director Kasi Lemmons and Gregory Allen Howard’s script – as we see Tubman jump off a bridge to elude captors, travel hundreds of miles alone on foot to free herself, then risking that freedom to return again and again to free others, brandishing pistols, wading through deep waters and basically exhibiting the kind of physical & mental strength usually reserved for male super or action heroes.

We begin on a plantation, in Maryland, with Araminta Ross nicknamed “Minty” (Cynthia Erivo)— lying on her back in a field. Since she was a little girl, when her head was split open in a blow from an abusive master, Minty, has suffered seizures and blackouts, during which she has visions. Her spiritual clairvoyance is a major point in the movie, and not invented just to enhance the story, as the historical record bears them out.

She’s awoken by her husband, a free black man who imparts happy news he’s received from a lawyer that should free Minty and her family too. Her slave-owner having none of it, rips the letter to shreds becoming the impetus to Minty soon becoming Harriet Tubman.

I got a chance to sit down for a little chat with Kasi Lemmons, who possesses a lovely and peaceful demeanor. One of the things I asked was to talk about one of the best days shooting and one of the worst, she talked about Erivo doing most of her own stunts including wading into that cold river, also how a rainy day that started miserable for everyone turned into catching a double rainbow on film in the scene when Minty first arrives outside Philadelphia.

Some critics are calling the movie prosaic or merely adequate. I feel that’s really selling it short. It may not be as artistic as Lemmon’s EVE’S BAYOU or as comprehensively entertaining as her, Ralph “Petey” Green bio TALK TO ME (one of my favs! discussed during interview & see podcast below), but I still feel HARRIET is very well done and emotional. And most of all, British actress Cynthia Erivo does great work giving life to a figure known only surfacely from history books.

CHECK OUT EXCERPTS OF MY KASI LEMMONS INTERVIEW:

For more on writer/director Kasi Lemmons and HARRIET check out Women and Hollywood TIFF 2019 Women Directors Interview – Excerpt below:

HARRIET CAST: Leslie Odom Jr, Janelle Monáe, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Clarke Peters, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Zackary Momoh, Henry Hunter Hall, Mitchell Hoog, Deborah Ayorinde, Rachel Ross, Omar Dorsey

Also participated in PFCC Film Scribes Podcast this weekend with HARRIET being discussed among other movies which screened at The Philadelphia Film Festival

My pic for Best Song for Award Season 2020: STAND UP