12 Years A Slave
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Written by: John Ridley, based on "12 Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, Alfre Woodard, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti, Bryan Batt, Taran Killam, Adepero Oduye, Michael K. Williams, Garret Dillahunt, Rob Steinberg, Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry
Biography/Drama/History - 134 min
Written by: John Ridley, based on "12 Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt, Lupita Nyong'o, Alfre Woodard, Sarah Paulson, Paul Giamatti, Bryan Batt, Taran Killam, Adepero Oduye, Michael K. Williams, Garret Dillahunt, Rob Steinberg, Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry
Biography/Drama/History - 134 min
Strip away the visual effects, the soft lighting, and any Hollywood comforts to put the audience at ease, 12 Years A Slave is a nightmare in broad daylight. Merely saying the sentence, “Slavery was wrong and a shame” comes nowhere close to what this ultra-real film will put you through. Deep down, we all may vaguely guess we can imagine the horror of slavery in the antebellum south, but there is no way we can. We have no reference point for it with our 21st century comforts and technology. Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave comes the closest to any on screen version of slavery in the history of film showing audiences the undeniable hell the institution of slavery really was.
Anyone who sees 12 Years A Slave will never look at Gone With the Wind the same way again. The alleged 19th century southern nobility, chivalry, and the gorgeous, sprawling plantations were built and maintained on the backs of some of the most brutal savagery ever known to mankind. The black folk were not people; they were beasts. When a slave trader played by a soulless Paul Giamatti separates a mother from her two children, it is no different to him than separating a mother cow from her calves.
Based on the 1853 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, born and living as a genteel free man in upstate New York, 12 Years A Slave begins with the accounting of the treachery of Solomon’s kidnapping and journey into the south. Renamed Platt and warned to never speak of his previous life or of his ability to read and write upon threat of instant death, Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) can only observe with unspeakable bewilderment as he moves from trading block to trading black and plantation to plantation.
McQueen juxtaposes the two central plantations Solomon toils on. The first estate, run by the kinder slave owner Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), provides better housing, working conditions, and an overall standard of living compared to the pit of despair awaiting Solomon. Ford recognizes there is more than meets the eye in Solomon and treats him as he would his prize specimen at the county fair. After incurring the wrath of the plantation’s psychopathic carpenter played by an oily Paul Dano, Solomon is left strung up in a tree delicately balancing on his tiptoes in the mud while the daily routine goes on around him.
Sold to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), known by his peers for his savage treatment of slaves, Solomon spends the next decade of his life dodging the ravings of a drunken madman. Fassbender spits, screams, and foams at the mouth as he gleefully whips his property, rapes his favorite slave, and reminds his wife, Mary (Sarah Paulson), he would as soon divorce her and send her packing than ever part with his prized slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o).
Countless times I wished Tarantino’s Django would burst through the door, guns blazing, shooting down these plantation-owning animals. Solomon is more literate and civilized than any white man he comes across but must play the ignorant slave lest he incur another back-shredding punishment. McQueen and writer John Ridley stay the course with stark reality though – Django is the fantasy escapism we yearn for when confronted by such harsh realism, but McQueen forces us to finally sit down and witness the truth.
Ejiofor’s performance will be remembered come Oscar time. His incredulous face, wide-eyed stare, and furrowed brow echo the carnage he witnesses. The slavers hide behind their bibles and their social conventions, but there are subtle references to a day of reckoning awaiting them. That reckoning is not to be found in 12 Years A Slave though. The title is its own spoiler yet there is no catharsis or happy ending you will walk away with. 12 Years A Slave is a brilliant film and everyone should force themselves to watch it, but I honestly never want to see it again.
Anyone who sees 12 Years A Slave will never look at Gone With the Wind the same way again. The alleged 19th century southern nobility, chivalry, and the gorgeous, sprawling plantations were built and maintained on the backs of some of the most brutal savagery ever known to mankind. The black folk were not people; they were beasts. When a slave trader played by a soulless Paul Giamatti separates a mother from her two children, it is no different to him than separating a mother cow from her calves.
Based on the 1853 memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup, born and living as a genteel free man in upstate New York, 12 Years A Slave begins with the accounting of the treachery of Solomon’s kidnapping and journey into the south. Renamed Platt and warned to never speak of his previous life or of his ability to read and write upon threat of instant death, Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) can only observe with unspeakable bewilderment as he moves from trading block to trading black and plantation to plantation.
McQueen juxtaposes the two central plantations Solomon toils on. The first estate, run by the kinder slave owner Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), provides better housing, working conditions, and an overall standard of living compared to the pit of despair awaiting Solomon. Ford recognizes there is more than meets the eye in Solomon and treats him as he would his prize specimen at the county fair. After incurring the wrath of the plantation’s psychopathic carpenter played by an oily Paul Dano, Solomon is left strung up in a tree delicately balancing on his tiptoes in the mud while the daily routine goes on around him.
Sold to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), known by his peers for his savage treatment of slaves, Solomon spends the next decade of his life dodging the ravings of a drunken madman. Fassbender spits, screams, and foams at the mouth as he gleefully whips his property, rapes his favorite slave, and reminds his wife, Mary (Sarah Paulson), he would as soon divorce her and send her packing than ever part with his prized slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o).
Countless times I wished Tarantino’s Django would burst through the door, guns blazing, shooting down these plantation-owning animals. Solomon is more literate and civilized than any white man he comes across but must play the ignorant slave lest he incur another back-shredding punishment. McQueen and writer John Ridley stay the course with stark reality though – Django is the fantasy escapism we yearn for when confronted by such harsh realism, but McQueen forces us to finally sit down and witness the truth.
Ejiofor’s performance will be remembered come Oscar time. His incredulous face, wide-eyed stare, and furrowed brow echo the carnage he witnesses. The slavers hide behind their bibles and their social conventions, but there are subtle references to a day of reckoning awaiting them. That reckoning is not to be found in 12 Years A Slave though. The title is its own spoiler yet there is no catharsis or happy ending you will walk away with. 12 Years A Slave is a brilliant film and everyone should force themselves to watch it, but I honestly never want to see it again.
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