| Begging these comment section clowns to read a book, look at a historical painting, learn one iota of actual history. Black people served in the courts of Spain and England, manned European galleys. Alessandro de’ Medici, the first duke of Florence was a mixed race Black man, Black people fought in numbers at the battle of Waterloo, you can see them scattered through 15th c Venetian crowd scenes, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the father of the author of the Three Musketeers, was a mixed race Black Haitian. In some areas of Europe, particularly in the south that had been heavily influenced by islamic conquests and invasions, the 16th c population of Black and African people was around 7 percent. Free Black citizens formed urban confraternities to buy their countrymen out of slavery. In the 17th c soldiering was a relatively common profession for Black immigrants and the children of immigrants to increase their standing and earn respectability, so Christian de Neuvillette being of Black descent is entirely plausible in line with the original play. The past is more complicated and interesting than you imagine. Scrape the shit out of your eyes and read. A. Book. For efficiency's sake, try starting with Black Africans in Renaissance Europe, ed. Earle and Lowe.
Anyway the film is nothing special but not awful, cute enough and forgettable. Feel like it's been a while since Joe Wright made something interesting. I always find Peter Dinklage watchable and he props this one up too. |