Flick #21 of CINEMONSTER's MannVanuary Trois.

My List of Films that I'll be watching (or have watched) plus links to those Reviews can be found here:
Slappy McGee's 3rd MannVanuary - 2024.

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I just loved this mini-series. It's basically a five-and-a-half hour movie, just broken up into seven 45-minute "episodes". I've been watching this off and on over the last couple of weeks. It's so damn good, that I've just been savoring it as I went.

All about the famous abolitionist JOHN BROWN and his fight to free the slaves, helping to incite the Civil War. He is portrayed brilliantly by Ethan Hawke like you've never seen him before. I mean, first of all, he has these crystal blue contact lenses that truly change his look. Plus he's sporting a wild and crazy "Duck Dynasty" beard. And he's almost brown himself in color because he's covered in so much dirt and filth.

Then the character of John Brown as Hawke plays him is just entirely unhinged. Sometimes played for laughs, but there's such genuine sincerity in Hawke's performance in what John Brown is saying that he's never the direct butt of the joke. He truly BELIEVES in what he is preaching. (...and he's a preaching a LOT in this film...)

But, yeah... Hawke is the central force driving this series and it is amazing to watch.

And actually, the central character is a young black actor named Joshua Caleb Johnson who plays the character nicknamed "ONION" who is somewhat adopted by John Brown as a personal mascot for his cause. We see this story through Onion's viewpoint for the most part, and he narrates the tale as well. And to make it even more interesting, Onion is kind of mistaken for a young girl at first and then remains "hidden" in plain sight as a young girl to survive the various troubles he encounters.

The truly great thing that I enjoyed about this mini-series and what sets it apart from other stories of this kind, is the use of ANACHRONISTIC MUSIC throughout. I love that directorial/production choice. It really gives this era a unique STYLE that we don't often see. It was a lot of fun and added to the overall feel of this series.

Overall, just great artistic direction to the look and feel of the piece as well as the credits and titles that label the various scenes. It all looks slick and stylistic. Loved it.

This is one I will revisit again. So good.