Green Flake (2020)

Yahosh Bonner plays Green Flake, a slave who helps blaze a trail West for the Mormon church in the 1840s.

At age 11, Green is taken from his mother and sold to James Flake, left with only a button tied to a string to remember his mother.

But Brother Joseph Smith’s religion promises to reunite loved ones in the hereafter. And that’s enough to convince Green Flake to join the church.

He’s a strong, hard-working, loyal church member, and that loyalty results in him being awarded his freedom.

But that freedom doesn’t apply to Martha Crosby, the woman with whom he falls in love.

So when Green is hand-picked by Brigham Young to help pave the West for his followers, Green vows to return to rescue her from slavery as well.

Martha begs him not to return, just to survive. Because he’ll be traveling on foot for thousands of miles through harsh country with a very small company of men.

Yohosh Bonner as Green Flake, the man who believes the Mormon church will reunite his family in Green Flake (2020)

Michaelyn Oby as Martha Crosby, the woman Green Flake falls in love with in Green Flake (2020)

Review:

An interesting film based on the life of Green Flake, one of three enslaved African American to enter the Salt Lake Valley with a Mormon expedition in the summer of 1847.

It’s a heart-warming movie, too, thanks to Green Flake devotion to his long-lost mother and Martha Crosby, the woman he left behind to help pioneer a trail West for the church.

In one of the film’s best scenes, a fellow slave gets upset over Green’s refusal to flee for freedom. So he rips the string from around Green’s neck and tosses it onto a frozen lake.

By that point, the string bears two buttons — the one his mother gave him when he was sold into slavery and one Martha gave him when he headed West.

Green Flake, hardly the smallest of men, risks his life to venture out onto a frozen lake that’s cracking under his feet to retrieve his prized necklace.

Unfortunately, there clearly wasn’t enough money in the film’s budget for well-done action scenes. And the script jumps all over the place, from Green’s childhood, to the journey West to his post-journey life.

I counted about a dozen such time jumps over the course of the film. They make it hard for viewers to find their footing and keep track of minor characters. Most of all, they diminish the dramatic impact of that hazardous and arduous trip West.

Casey Elliott as Brother Joseph Smith, fighing the Missouri Mob with Green Flake by his side in Green Flake (2020)

Dallyn Bayles as Brigham Young, recruiting Green Flake for the expedition West in Green Flake (2020)

Directed by:
Mauli Junior Bonner

Cast:
Yahosh Bonner … Green Flake
Michaelyn Oby … Martha Crosby
Stephen Jones … Elijah Abel
Clotile Yanna … Biddy Mason
Ashley Jenkins … Lucinda Flake
Alex Boyle … Jacob
Dejuan Turrentine … Hark
Carleton Bluford … Henry
Oba Bonner … Ocar
Lita Giddins … Jane Manning James
Oyoyo Joie … Green’s mother
Malachi Bonner … young Green
Harry Bonner …. Anthony Stebbins
Joe Hicks … Joe
Camlyn Giddins … Mary Anne
Debra Bonner … Gammy
Samantha Rose Bonner … young Lizzy
Dallyn Bayles … Brigham Young
Casey Elliott … Joseph Smith
Kevin Goertzen … Elder Cross

Runtime: 100 min.

aka:
Black Pioneer
His Name is Green Flake

Dejuan Turrentine as Hark, the slave who wants Green Flake to make a dash for freedom on the way West in Green Flake (2020)

Kevin Goertzen as Elder Cross, the man who owns Martha and her brothers in Green Flake (2020)

Memorable lines:

Green Flake: “My momma used to say, ‘If you see something wrong, then do something right.'”

Elijah Abel: “If things go south with the Missouri mob and you find yourself in a bad way, Green is the type of man you want on your side.”
Brother Joseph Smith: “James Flake’s slave? Well, is he willing to fight? Is he willing to die?”

Lucinda: “Folks need wood and you just stack it up like it’s something to look at.”
Green Flake: “That ain’t the point … Don’t touch this wood.”

Green Flake to the white Mormon church leader heading the expedition West: “No more shackles. No more chains. We all on a mission now. Only way we make it is together, as one.”

Brother Cross to Elijah Abel: “You wanna talk about sacrifice. Mormon saints were hunted down like wild hogs because of how well we treated all you people.”

Stephen Jones as Elijah Abel, seeking a brighter future for his people in Green Flake (2020)

Clotile Yanna as Biddy Mason, a woman who credits Green Flake for her freedom in Green Flake (2020)

Oyoyo Joie as Green’s mother, giving her young son a button to remember her by in Green Flake (2020)

Yahosh Booner as Green Flake, making a plea to Brigham Young on his wife’s behalf in Green Flake (2020)