The Good Lord Bird
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Lets talk about Ethan Hawkes mouth.
And then theres his voice booming and frantic and inspiring and absolutely unhinged all at once.
I tried to mimic it, and it left me with a sore throat all day.
All of which is to say that from the second Hawke-as-Brown stands up in Dutchs Tavern, hebecomesthis series.
As HawketoldThe New Yorkerin a recent profile, John Browns a lightning rod.
He forces the question of violence versus nonviolence, like Malcolm X. Thats why we avoid talking about him.
He fans the flames of white guilt.
Browns men go hunting for Dutch Henry, somewhat confusedly ambling through the countryside.
With Pate as their prisoner, they run into Lieutenant J.E.B.
But still,The Good Lord Birdadmirably strings together a morally complicated situation.
Brown has tunnel vision.
He preaches fire and brimstone like an early Puritan but sees himself as the sole arbiter of Gods justice.
and finally gets to his real purpose, bellowing, Do we aim to start a war?
And in a wise upending of the traditional rescue narrative, Onion is granted insight far beyond Browns.
Much of colored life was an act.
And the Negroes that did what they was told and kept they mouth shut lived the longest.
But whatThe Good Lord Bird does best is to ratchet up the absurd at vital moments.
When Dutch Henry calls out, You little thief, you owe me 1,200 dollars!
(meaning the price of Onion), Brown yodels back, Charge it to the lord, heathen!
When Browns men finally advance on Pates, a chorus of Shake your moneymaker plays over them.
How absolutely shambolic and untidy history is, despite its linear nature on the page.
America isnt the civilized place weve all pretended it is for 400 years.
Its twisted and chaotic, with a few inscrutable bright lights like Brown.
Good and bad are always colliding.
