Netflix’s The Harder They Fall Is First All-Black Western

The Harder They Fall is Netflix’s first all-black Western. Black cowboys in the West? Is this a Hollywood reinvention? No. Instead, this is a correction. The movie starts with, “While the events in this film are fictionalized… These. People. Existed.”

This is not like a female James Bond, or the all-female Ghostbusters cast. This is real history. What Do We Know About This Historic New Netflix Movie?

Netflix’s The Harder They Fall Sets Record Straight

Netflix’s The Harder They Fall is a movie to correct history. According to the BBC, a “large number of cowboys were black.” However, Hollywood Westerns always depicted cowboys, like John Wayne, as white, with black actors in “deferential roles.”

The Harder They Fall director, Jeymes Samuel grew up loving Westerns. The West Londoner wants to correct this, but he mostly wants to make a story for everyone to watch. “So it is not a black film, it’s a movie for everyone to enjoy, but it’s a predominantly black cast, telling the story of how they lived.”

Most of all, he loves Westerns. “It seemed like they were really in that time and place without any special effects – real horses, real people. OK, it was hundreds of years ago, but it was as if somehow, some way, we really got cameras there. Westerns were just the easiest thing for me to accept… I felt super-connected to them.”

What Is The Harder They Fall About?

Netflix’s The Harder They Fall is about two rival gangs. one is led by Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), while the other is by Rufus Buck (Idris Elba). We quickly learn there is some history between the two men, as there is a flashback where Nat sees Rufus killing his parents, at the Buck dinner table.

Now, Rufus Buck is determined to take revenge on Rufus Buck. Buck’s posse has plans to break him out of jail. Love is determined to pay him back. Then, some serious, and bloody fighting ensues.

One In Three Cowboys Were Black

According to an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Jay-Z discussed the fact that one in three cowboys in the west was black. This is something that most people don’t know, nor do history books include.

Co-producer of the movie, Jay-Z, shared that “I love to be part of a project that widens the lens. Because once it is widened for us, it is widened for Asian, Mexican…for everyone.” Jay-Z doesn’t fault anyone for not knowing this. He pointed out that the “characters were taken from us.”

He grew up watching public television and there were a lot of Westerns on tv. However, everyone was white. Therefore, he is not surprised that people do not realize that one in three cowboys were black. He even points out that the Lone Ranger was one of these characters that were changed. However, in The Harder They Fall, the person who inspired The Lone Ranger is in this movie.

How Jeymes Samuel is clear that he will keep “the goodies goodies, and I keep the baddies baddies.” Otherwise, he is using some creative license. Perhaps part of that had to do with what history was available.

Oscar-winner Regina King portrays Treacherous Trudy. She did a little research on her character and didn’t have much luck. “When I did my Google dive on Gertrude Smith, I tried spelling it lots of different ways, and there isn’t really anything that comes up. So it was a little more liberating, because I didn’t have to be beholden to a certain look or idea of someone.”

Yes, this is the only place where the film takes the creative license, on the characters themselves.

When Is Netflix Dropping The Harder They Fall? Netflix is dropping The Harder They Fall on November 2.