In 1841 Solomon Northup, a free black man, is kidnapped from his home in Saratoga Springs, New York and sold into slavery in Georgia. He is forced to work as a slave for 12 years under horrific conditions before he is finally able to find a white man who will believe his story and help him return to his wife and his family. This is a true story.
A film like this is a tricky thing to make. Steve McQueen, the talented black British born director has always had a very specific style, having moved into narrative cinema from a visual arts background (he won the incredibly prestigious Turner Prize in 1999), and his two excellent former films Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011) are both very much in keeping with his cool but hard hitting style. So while 12 Years a Slave is horrifically difficult to watch, McQueen has adapted his sensibility to do justice to this deeply troubling story that not only re-exposes the terrible injustices of slavery but actually addresses an even more disturbing question, the question of our own humanity.
Supported by a truly extraordinary cast with Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup (who is renamed Platt when he is sold into slavery); Michael Fassbender (who has played the lead roles in both of McQueen’s former films) as Edwin Epps a half crazed slave owner; Lupita Nyong’o as Patsey, the long suffering paramour of the sadistic Epps; Benedict Cumberbatch as William Ford, a slave owner who sees Platt’s value, but chooses to turn a blind eye; and Brad Pitt as Samuel Bass, a Canadian wanderer who finally ends Platt’s imprisonment; this is a film that perhaps would not have resonated as much without the above mentioned ultra-stellar ensemble.
So why would anyone watch such a film? After all, by now, we are all familiar with the documentation of the evils of slavery, the injustices done, the lives ruined even generations on. I can only answer that it is perhaps never too much to be reminded of what human kind can do to each other because of our superficial differences: the colours of our skin, the separation of gender, and of course, the differences in religion.
12 Years a Slave is a good film, a hard film to watch, but you will not regret seeing it. It is not McQueen’s best and had the story not been based in truth, perhaps I might even have accused him of slight histrionics, not in the subject matter, but definitely in the all too heavy and jarring score by Hans Zimmer. However, McQueen’s film forcibly exposes us to one of the truly terrible times in our history – jarringly reminding us that no matter how sophisticated we are today, we were and still are capable of treating each other like animals.
12 Years a Slave will most probably win Best Picture, the academy likes films about serious matters. Ejiofor will be cheated if he is not awarded Best Actor along with Nyong’o for her heart-breaking turn as the abused Patsy. McQueen, however, being British, will probably suffer the most, falling through the cracks.
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