An orphan raised within the Ku Klux Klan is persuaded to leave by his girlfriend. When the Klan seeks him out for vengeance, a black congregation led by a benevolent reverend take him, his girlfriend and her son in.
Finally getting a wiser release after premiering at the Sundance Festival back in January 2018, Burden is the feature-length film debut for Andrew Heckler, who also penned the script for this film based on a true story.
A story about racial bigotry and white supremacy, this is one of those racism-related films that is flooding the market at the moment (The Banker, American Son, Just Mercy, The Best of Enemies, Harriet, The Hate U Give, Green Book, BLACKkKLANSMAN, If Beale Street Could Talk, to name a few). Sadly, this is one of those racism-related films that doesn’t quite strike the right chord.
The film is created under the guise of a white racist bigot learning humility and understanding that you cannot judge a person’s character by the colour of their skin, alongside the sub-story of a black pastor that helps this other man dividing the black community by his actions. The former part of the synopsis is not fully realised, however, and when you read up on the real story or read through interviews, you further lose confidence in the transformation being fed to us. While the latter half does occur, the plot threads do not go anywhere.
Despite casting Usher and Forest Whitaker, their arcs are not concluded in a satisfying manner. Despite many black characters being introduced, none of the arcs reach any sense of resolution, as it forces the audience to try and empathise with this KKK leader; to humanize his role.
Despite casting Usher and Forest Whitaker, their arcs are not concluded in a satisfying manner. Despite many black characters being introduced, none of the arcs reach any sense of resolution, as it forces the audience to try and empathise with this KKK leader; to humanize his role.
Burden starts off brilliantly. Intentionally vague, it introduces our main character. A man who appears to work hard, has a kind heart and an appreciation for family. But all is not as it seems. The set designs and colour palette create an organically warm, nostalgic, and comfortable setting. Set in the Deep South of Laurens, South Carolina, the environment is set up really well. It’s a convincing setup, and primes the audience to empathise with our main character, Mike Burden (Garrett Hedland).
While the acting performances are well done and the environments look good, Burden struggles with its script and direction. With so much focus on humanizing and justifying the behaviour of Mike, it dehumanizes the victims, persecuting the community for a second time. The character development is minimal, with attempts made to showcase the positive and negative attitudes of both black and white communities, but failing to show the grey within each person. Every character outside of Mike Burden is either categorically good or categorically bad, with no consequences to any of their actions as they are swiftly ditched from the script when their “moment” is done.
The film drops the main arc between the pastor and the museum, in favour of elevating the “transformation” of Mike Burden. His redemption is, however, unconvincing and feels unearned. His motivations do not feel genuine or consistent, with his sudden change in personality and goals stemming from his connection with a white woman. This could very well be the story of a conman, who is willing to burn anyone in order to gain the favour of whatever family he thinks will benefit him the most.
The script simply lacks any sense of depth to the characterization that would make this more substantial. Every interesting turn of events is swiftly ignored. How will this attack affect the community? How does this event affect the person on an emotional level? How do the pacifists deal with the ever growing group of potential activists? None of these deeper questions are explored. Everything is only skin deep, an adaptation of a glance from someone that didn’t care enough to find out more.
The script simply lacks any sense of depth to the characterization that would make this more substantial. Every interesting turn of events is swiftly ignored. How will this attack affect the community? How does this event affect the person on an emotional level? How do the pacifists deal with the ever growing group of potential activists? None of these deeper questions are explored. Everything is only skin deep, an adaptation of a glance from someone that didn’t care enough to find out more.
The cinematography is fine. Nothing spectacular, but thanks to the script it creates a very inconsistent pacing with a directionless story. A similar story to one that we have all seen many times before, and the inability of Andrew Heckler to properly explore the story, leads to a film that is surprisingly bereft of emotion. None of the blame can be placed on the actors, who all do a brilliant job with the material they were provided. Garrett Hedland was fully absorbed in the role, from his speech style to his manner of movement, Forest Whitaker and Usher also working really well with the content they were given. But Burden was from the wrong perspective. A focus on the romantic arc eroded any positive messages that could have come from the story, instead attempts to relabel a group of violent and hateful bigots as misunderstood.
Visually, Burden looks good, but it doesn’t have the substance to hook you in like the story should.
Burden is in cinemas from June 4th, 2020