12 Years a Slave (2013)

I usually tend to shy away from slave narrative films. I find they're too graphic and they're very hard to watch. However, Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave seemed different to me even before I viewed it. Just from the trailer I knew I'd enjoy the film; I was right.

Now, by "enjoy" I don't mean that the film brought me great joy while watching it--it was far too heart-wrenching for that. By "enjoy" I mean that I was captivated. I saw what the characters saw; I felt what they felt. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, but at the same time I was scared of finding out what was to come.

The film begins with Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) living life as a free black man in 1841 New York. He and his family were born free and life a comfortable life. When Solomon is offered a job in Washington, D.C., he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. He is given the identity of Platt, a runaway slave from Georgia, and is bought by William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). Ford treats Platt and his other slaves well; he even rewards Platt with a fiddle after he learns he can play. However, Ford's carpenter, John Tibeats (Paul Dano), begins harassing Platt and eventually attempts to hang him after Platt fights back. Ford realizes he can't keep Platt safe, and sells him to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), another plantation owner. Epps is not nearly as kind as Ford; he is an alcoholic pedophile who has no problem with using a whip. After ten years of living and working on Epps' plantation (he spent two with Ford), Platt meets Bass (Brad Pitt), a Canadian carpenter. Bass agrees to help him return home; shortly after, one of Solomon's friends from New York travels to Epps' plantation and rescues Solomon. After twelve years, Solomon returns home and is reunited with his family.

After watching the film, it's easy to see why it's been nominated for so many awards. The cinematography was incredible, as was the acting. Ejiofor's facial expressions throughout the film were so moving; I felt everything he was feeling. As for the cinematography, I loved how it showed off the beauty of the South through the ugliness of what was occurring in the region. As backwards as some of the South may be, it sure is pretty.

I also liked how the violence of slavery was handled. As I mentioned before, most slave narratives are very graphic; they seem to focus too much on the beatings. While 12 Years did show the brutality of slavery, it wasn't the sole focus of the film. The violence was not gratuitous; it had a purpose. Going along with the theme handling things well, I liked how not every white person in the film was "evil". In most movies about slavery, every white person is usually a bad guy. While most of the whites in 12 Years were bad people, there were a few good white men: Ford and Bass, for example.

The one problem I had with the film was its timeline. I knew that by the end of the movie twelve years would have gone by, however it was hard to keep track of said years. I wasn't aware that two years had passed at Ford's plantation until I was told; I thought it was only a few months. By the time Platt met Bass, I had assumed that only eight years or so had passed. I'm not sure if I just missed clues that explained the timeline, or if there were none at all.

I truly believe that 12 Years a Slave should win at least the Best Picture award at the Oscars this year, and I certainly hope it sweeps the other categories as well. It's one of the most extraordinary films I've seen in a long time, and I hope others feel the same.

Score: 9.5/10
Recommend? YES!