RIDE WITH THE DEVIL explores a tragic subject without being a tragedy. Free of pandering to cliched expectations and the constraints of a politically correct point of view (such as, the false notion that the Confederates were solely defending the institution of slavery and therefore any atrocity committed by the Yankees is justifiable and even heroism on the part of the Rebels is despicable), the movie can explore deeper, more complex themes. The movie takes an unflinching look at the brutality from both sides and refreshingly refrains from making sweeping moral judgments. It is in this uncertain and dangerous world that RIDE WITH THE DEVIL is set. What followed in this territory west of the Mississippi and continued nearly unabated until even after the collapse of the Confederacy in 1865 were events and atrocities that most uninformed Americans would more readily associate with Kosovo rather than with the good ol’ USA. was the night that John Brown’s self-named Army of the Lord hacked, shot and stabbed a grisly human swath along Pottawatome Creek. By the time of the firing upon Fort Sumter in 1861, which marks the beginning of the Civil War, a gruesome prologue was already long underway in Missouri and Kansas.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |