Top 100 Films- 88. Glory (1989)

Glory tells the story of an all black regiment that fought against the confederacy in the American civil war. Featuring performances from Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman, Glory is a triumph and an emotional look into the struggle of African Americans freedom in the modern history of the United States.

There are hundreds of films that portray the plight of African Americans for their fight towards equality in the United States. Films tackle slavery, the civil rights movement and contemporary events of the 21st century. Glory for me is one of my favourite films that tackles this issue. It is a film that highlights a forgotten part of black history, the regiments of African Americans that in their sacrifice and effort in the war was accepted in the north. Now this is superlative and history tells us that it would take decades for African Americans to be considered equal and some argue that it is still not the case but this is no time for politics, this is a film review.

Glory highlights the blight of American history. The civil war was entrenched in the desire to end or extend slavery. In the beginning, the film does not hold back and demonstrate the horrors of slavery. Glory invigorates the reason why this regiment of African Americans was important. They weren’t just fighting to win a war, but fighting to survive. Fighting to be treated like a human being, not someone else’s property. This desire and motive is central to the film. The stakes are raised and throughout the whole film the emotional levels are at a all time high.

This is  a film that relies on strong performances and Morgan Freeman, the Oscar winning performance Denzel Washington carries this film. Even Matthew Broderick was good and that is a rare occurrence. This film could of strayed into the large sway of national cheesy sentimentalism. It is called Glory, it could of been on the patriotic level of Independence Day or The Patriot. However, it did not. This is a film that isn’t just about the regiment, it is about the individuals. We get to relive the lives of each soldier. The reason why they are there and what they are fighting for.

Glory is not an easy watch, there is times I had to pause it because of the strength of the emotions that are portrayed. This is not a good part of American history but in that horror there is a shining light of men that put their lives on the line to push towards being treated equally. It can be discussed whether the ending is a good one or not but Glory revisits a history that shouldn’t be forgotten. It was horrific, it was terrible but this film focuses on the sacrifice of the few to help the many. A film that is held up by the fantastic performances of the main cast and if you are not a fan of historic biopics then just watch it for the amazing performances from Freeman, Washington and Broderick.