Free State of Jones Dvd

Free State of Jones is a 2016 American historical war film inspired by the life of Newton Knight and his armed revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi, throughout the American Civil War. Written and directed by Gary Ross, the film stars Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, and Keri Russell.

It was released in the United States by STXfilms on June 24, 2016. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $25 million against its $50 million production budget.

Plot

After surviving the 1862 Battle of Corinth and being told of the Twenty Negro Law, Newton Knight, a poor farmer from Jones County serving as a battlefield nurse in the Confederate army, deserts and returns home to his farm and his wife, Serena, after seeing his nephew Daniel get shot and killed. While there, he befriends Rachel, an enslaved woman who has secretly learned to read.

Newton’s disenchantment with the Confederacy grows after finding out that troops were taking crops and livestock for taxes. After helping one family resist such a raid, he is pursued by a Confederate slave patrol and bitten by an attack dog. With the help of abolitionist-oriented Aunt Sally and multiple slaves, he escapes to a swamp where some runaway slaves led by Moses Washington tend to his wounds.

After the Siege of Vicksburg, more rebel soldiers desert, and many of them end up at the swamp, where Newton becomes their captain. The ex-Confederates and runaway slaves form a revolt against the Confederacy. They raid Confederate convoys and capture a piece of southeast Mississippi, organising it as the “Free State of Jones.” Despite getting little help from the Union, they manage to hold out until the end of the war.

Newton continues to fight racial inequality after the war. He helps free Moses’ son from an “apprenticeship” to Rachel’s former master. After Moses is lynched while registering freedmen to vote, Newton participates in a march of voters to the polls while they sing “John Brown’s Body”.

Newton and Rachel have a son, Jason. Since they are unable to legally marry, Newton arranges to deed a parcel of land to her.

Newton’s great-grandson, Davis Knight, is arrested under Mississippi’s miscegenation laws in 1948. Since he is possibly of one-eighth black descent, under Mississippi law at that time he is considered black, and therefore could not legally marry his long-time white sweetheart. He is sentenced to five years in prison, but his conviction is thrown out by the Mississippi Supreme Court in 1949, rather than risk the law being declared unconstitutional.

Cast

Actor Matthew McConaughey (left, pictured at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival) portrayed anti-Confederate rebellion leader Newton Knight (right).
Matthew McConaughey as Newton Knight
Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Rachel
Mahershala Ali as Moses Washington
Keri Russell as Serena Knight
Christopher Berry as Jasper Collins
Sean Bridgers as Will Sumrall
Jacob Lofland as Daniel
Thomas Francis Murphy as Col. Elias Hood
Bill Tangradi as Lt. Barbour
Brian Lee Franklin as Davis Knight
Kerry Cahill as Mary
Joe Chrest as James Eakins
Jessica Collins as Annie
Kirk Bovill as Merchant
Donald Watkins as Wilson
Artrial Clark as Eli
Manny Penton as Surgeon
Wayne Pére as Col. Robert Lowry