Roots Scenarios

My three favorite scenes from Roots are the birth of Kunta Kinte, the uprising on the slave ship and the whipping of Kinte. The uprising on the slave ship is the most invigorating scene in the first episode of the Roots miniseries. Kinte, his uncle Silla, the woman with the beautiful voice, the crew and captain of the ship, along with all the captured slaves on the ship create the mass of characters during the uprising. The uprising scene begins when the camera cuts the underdeck of the ship where the slaves are stored during the journey to the Americas.Kinte has a discussion with an older man and Kinte decides he is going to lead an uprising the next day. The finalization of the uprising is marked by the older man and Kinte holding hands in the dark quarters of the ship.The

Kinte is able to verbalize orders to the other men while speaking in their native tongue, gearing up for the rebellion.The viewer can feel the intensity of scene rising: the drummer beats faster and louder and the singing becomes a near yell. Kinte shouts a religious phrase and begins to cut the chains off of the other men with an axe strategically placed for him by the woman with a beautiful voice. Immediately some men are struck with bullets but a battle ensues. The most compelling directorial aspect appears when Kinte is able to break through the door and enter the “safe zone”. The background noise fades out and only the sound of weapons being used and a distinctly African song are heard. The camera catches the intensity on Kinte’s face as he strikes and kills a crew member manning a cannon. The captain then mans the cannon and with a close up of his face, fires the cannon killing a young white child, the old man and another slave. This marks the end of the uprising. The general shock and impact makes Kinte’s vision seem shaky and blurry as other crew members reach the top deck and work to defeat the