'Silver Dollar Road' Is A Moving, and Infuriating Film About Race and Ownership
Raul Peck delivers an infuriating, celebratory, and serene picture with Silver Dollar Road. The film takes place in Adam's Creek, Carteret County in North Carolina. For the Reels family, keeping their property becomes a burden. Constantly harassed by Adams Creek Associates and other white people like them, the Reels are constantly bullied into giving up their property. Peck examines a world that hasn't changed its prejudice since the Emancipation Proclamation. Even with slavery lifted America has far to go when it comes to exterminating its prejudiced attitude. Hate and racism will never cease to exist. In one of the film's most powerful moments, one of the Reels is asked when she thinks they'll stop being bothered by the whites who want their property. In response, she proclaims it will never happen. Things will always be the way they are.
The film begins with a title informing, "In 1865, just before emancipation, Union General William Tecumseh Sherman met with a group of black ministers in South Carolina to ask what they needed." The minister, in response, said, "The way we can best take care of ourselves is to have land and turn it and til by our own labor." It's a telling notion that people of color will always have to defend their property, even when the whites are pretending they care and want to help. What happens to the Reels is sickening but not surprising. When Elija Reels (the original property owner, dies), the Reels family has to fight tooth and nail to maintain their property. The Reels aren't rich. They make most of their money through Uncle Melvin, who's a shrimper. Melvin's a charismatic man who's the life of the party, and he's darned good at what he does.
His freedom, along with his brother Licurtis, is taken from them. The two brothers spent eight years in jail for failing to vacate their homes. Based on the ProPublica Article, "Their Family Bought Land One Generation After Slavery. The Reels Brothers Spent Eight Years in Jail for Refusing to Leave It" by Lizzie Presser, Director Raul Peck documents the Reels but in a restrained style from his usual filmography for something more personal when it comes to characters.
Unlike I Am Not Your Negro, Peck takes less of an essayist style to something more of a standard documentary. The film switches from talking head interviews to family photos, personal home videos, and fly-on-the-wall Cinéma vérité to concoct a family portrait. To keep track of which family member is related to whom, an animated tree is made. On each branch is a family member connecting to each root that blossoms into another person. It's an effective way to keep the information concise so we're not asking, "Who's that? How are they related?"
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, the pain the Reels experience is very relatable. That's the power film can have. Like Melvin says in an email back to Adams Creek Associates when they ask if he'll leave his land, "What would you do if it was happening to you?" If it was your property, would you give up and let those who don't own it take it from you? Or would you fight, even if that means imprisonment? Most people wouldn't fight back. They'd face avoiding their time behind bars all they could. Through a looking-glass perspective, Raul Peck constructs a stunning piece of filmmaking about a family who displays tremendous bravery when facing adversity.
Silver Dollar Road is currently available on Amazon Prime video.
