Released in 2013, Tula: The Revolt suffers from the weak dialogue, characterization, and bland cinematography. The film follows Tula, the leader of a slave uprising on the Dutch Colonial Island of Curacao. More so a character study rather than a historical epic, the film tends to focus on Tula’s actions and beliefs as the fearless leader. The only praise I can allow to give this film is its subject matter. Up until 2013, Dutch colonialism had not been portrayed in a feature film, let alone in the perspective of the slaves themselves. While the filmmaker Jeroen Leinders made a wise choice in shooting on-location in historical buildings in Curacao, the film left a lot to be desired.
I believe the film’s opening scene in which the governor describes the extent to which Tula will be punished and eventually killed leaves no room for the film to have any dramatic tension. We know what is going to happen to him, so why should we care? The film lacks any sort of hope even though it included ‘heroic’ battles making us believe that they will survive. The film reminds me more of a straight to television movie with its stiff acting and poor articulation. The romance between Tula and Speranza was distracting and bland leading me to wonder why they put it into the film at all. Additionally, the narrative bordered on drama and comedy (and not in a good way). The slave owners acting was borderline hilarious, and the accents were absolutely atrocious. I could not believe the revolt didn’t happen sooner because it seemed Tula’s master had no other protection but his word.
Tula: The Revolt lacked stakes and any sort of message or inspiration. Frankly, this was one of my least favorite films this semester.