When it comes to Civil-War era movies, “Free State of Jones” can be placed alongside “Glory” (1989), “Lincoln” (2012) and “12 Years a Slave” (2013) among contemporary American cinema interpretations of the Civil War era.

The awkwardly-titled film recounts a little-known chapter in American history when the rebels fought the Rebels, and took down a Confederate flag and raised an American flag over the Ellisville, Miss., Courthouse.

That town, as well as Jones County, and two other counties in southern Mississippi, was dubbed the Free State of Jones, when they were taken over by Newton Knight, an itinerant farmer who deserted the Confederate Army and gathered a force of several hundred disgruntled southerners, white and black, weary of war, opposed to slavery and angry over produce, crop and household conscriptions by the Confederacy. Knight Company, as it was known, was armed, dangerous and protected from Confederate soldiers by the dense swamps where they hid out.

Matthew McConaughey portrays Newton Knight with the fiery eyes of a zealot (it’s believed he was a devout Baptist), the body of a man bent but not broken by adversity and that low, intimate growly voice familiar from those Lincoln automobile television commercials he does.

Black and white still photos serve as chapter titles to advance the story and remind the viewer that “Free State of Jones” is based on a true story, roughly 1862-1876, with flash-forward scenes to a 1940s’ court case involving a descendant of Knight. Some Civil War battle and field hospital scenes are graphically realistic. Overall, the film is impressively lensed.

The film’s third act delves into the Reconstruction Era, delineating the re-emergence of the landed gentry ruling class and sharecropper re-enslavement through farm youth “apprentices,” seizing of land, voting rights suppression by Democrats of black Republicans and the slaughter of African-Americans by the Ku Klux Klan in the Jim Crow South.

In this, “Free State of Jones” is an antidote to the plantation perspective of “Gone With the Wind” (1939) and the white supremacist apologia of D.W. Griffth’s “Birth of a Nation” (1915).

Look for an actor Oscar nomination for McConaughey and a supporting actress nomination for Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Rachel, a sympathetic slave). Impressive in supporting roles: Mahershala Ali (Moses, a slave) and Keri Russell (Serena, Knight’s wife).

“Free State of Jones” was a decade-long labor of love for director Gary Ross (director: “The Hunger Games,” 2012; “Pleasantville,” 1998; director, screenplay Oscar nominee: “Seabiscuit,” 2003; Oscar screenplay nominee, “Dave,” 1993; “Big,” 1988), who wrote the memorable “Free State of Jones” screenplay from a story by Leonard Hartman.

“Free State of Jones” is a powerful, fascinating and thought-provoking film about a little-known chapter in American history. The pages are still turning. The book is not closed.

“Free State of Jones,”MPAA rated R (Restricted. Children Under 17 Require Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian.) for brutal battle scenes and disturbing graphic images; Genre: Action, Biography, Drama, History, War; Run time: 2 hrs., 19 mins.; Distributed by STX Entertainment.

Credit Readers Anonymous:“Free State of Jones” first assistant editor is Gershon Hinkson, chairman of the Movies at the Mill film festival in Easton.

Box Office,July 1: Weekend box office results were unavailable because of the early July 4 Day holiday deadline for the Focus section.

Unreel,July 8:

“The Secret Life of Pets,”PG: Directors: Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney direct the voice talents of Jenny Slate, Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper and Albert Brooks in the animation feature comedy about the shenanigans of some pets in Manhattan.

“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,”R: Director: Jake Szymanski directs Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza and Adam Devine in a comedy about two brothers who take inappropriate dates to a wedding.

“Captain Fantastic,”R: Director: Matt Ross directs Viggo Mortensen, Frank Langella, Kathryn Hahn and George MacKay in a drama about a father raising six children in the forests of the Pacific Northwest.