12 Years a Slave (***½)
Directed
by: Steve McQueen
Starring:
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Benedict
Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Adepero Oduye, Paul Giamatti, Garret Dillahunt,Alfre
Woodard, Quvenzhané Wallis
Seen:
Januray 27th 2014
***½
Out of ****
The
most chilling and sobering thing about 12 Years a Slave is that it is based on
an 1853 memoir which was validated as accurate. Two high-profile accounts of
this time-period was released in the last year or so, the fictional Django
Unchained from Quentin Taratino, and 12 Years a Slave. Both leave little to the
imagination and as a result can at times be unsettling to put it mildly, but Django
Unchained did have a quirky script which made it more boisterously entertaining
to watch. That does not in any way take any credit away from 12 Years a Slave,
as it is by far the more serious and more historically significant movie of the
two.
In 1841,
Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free black man from New York, was kidnapped in
Washington D.C. and sold into slavery, by Theophilus Freeman (Giamatti), to William
Ford (Cumberbatch). Ford handled Northup with relevant dignity, but held an ignorant
view regarding slave ownership. Ford’s carpenter John Tibeats (Dano) treated
Northup terribly, and an altercation between the two that was nearly Northup’s death
by lynching led to him being sold to Edwin Epps (Fassbender), where Northup’s real
troubles began. Epps was a vile and Bible-bashing man, justifying slavery and
abuse of his slaves through scripture. Epps enforced strict cotton picking
quotas on his slaves, and the ones who did not make quota were beaten. One
slave girl who routinely picked far more than double quota, Patsey (Nyong’o),
became an object of desire for the mentally deranged Epps, which brought the
wrath of Epps’ wife Mary (Paulson) down on Patsey. Northup continuously attempted
to convince his captors of his status as a free man, but to no avail, with only
one person willing to even try to help, the carpenter Samuel Bass (Pitt). One
thing that, after the dust settled, still remained with me, was the fact that
even though one slave might have been rescued (the title tells us that the time
was 12 years, this is not a spoiler), many stayed behind and were only saved
when major events forced it on us – the only thing necessary for evil to
triumph is for good men to do nothing.
The
movie is beautifully filmed, with stark and sudden contrasts between absolutely
gorgeous nature scenes and the oppressive and unwavering denigration of the
slaves constantly reminding the viewer of the reality of the situation. Every
time the viewer is given a short reprieve with a beautiful sunset or something
similar, the viewer is again crashed back to the horrific reality of slavery.
Two acts/scenes stand out in particular – the attempted lynching of Northup is
emotionally draining, and Epps whipping Patsey to a pulp is a vulgar shock
without being unnecessary for even a second. Ejiofor and Nyong’o deliver absolutely
fantastic performances, carrying their suffering and hardship into the viewer’s
consciousness. Fassbender is equally good as a hateful man, while Benedict
Cumberbatch expertly delivers Ford as a man to almost respect, but not quite. In
fact, Steve McQueen coaxes fantastic performances out of the entire cast. 12
Years a Slave is a very good movie in every way, telling a tragic and emotional
story with tender sensitivity and fierce brutality.
Comments