Review of 12 Years a Slave (2013) by Cj W — 12 Sep 2014

Never has a film, novel, play, or any other art form stared so deeply into the helpless abyss that is slavery until now, until 12 Years a Slave. Never has art embodied slavery so exactly, so broadly, and most importantly, so truthfully. Steve McQueen has crafted a masterpiece from beginning to end, it is a film that will not, and cannot, be forgotten. It insists from the opening shot onward that we gaze at our original sin, and look warily and shamefully into our victims faces. We see their humanity and their scars and the innocence under those scars. No, it is not an easy viewing, however, it is essential, it is an instant classic, and it is a piece of American Art which stands tall alongside our giants.

You may think that this praise is a little too much, a little too boastful and blind to the faults of the film, however, I can say confidently that this is as perfect as a film gets. This is remorseless art which seeks to express human truth and universal truth in gentle strokes of beauty and pain. The imagery is poetic, the depth of the story is novelistic, and the nakedness of the emotions are so much so that it must be cinema at it's finest. For example, the scene where we see Solomon Northrupp (Chiwitel Ejiofor) first captive, is in a dingy, dark room. A single block of light is exposed above him, the light is there, yet hovers above him, it is as hopelessly gone as his past life, his love, and his freedom. He's chained and he pulls and he struggles to break free, but it is all hopeless. He's in the middle of Washington D.C., yet there is no justice and no hope. A man comes in, tells Solomon what his new life is, what his past is now, and when Solomon denies this fallacious history, he is beaten so savagely, so ruthlessly into submission that his back is nothing but flesh and blood, and his clothes but blood-soaked bandages. The emotions and actions and motives are laid so boldly and nakedly in this scene that we feel the whip and pain of Solomon, but we also feel just as powerfully, the self-righteousness, vanity, and the just plain evil nature of his captors.

Solomon is then sold to Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) by a white man (Paul Giamatti) with no sentimentality in his heart, as he sells a women to the same man, the man asks to have her children as well, but the seller, without guilt or emotion, tells him no, that the family must be separated. This scene in particular really got to me, we deprived them of so much, of everything, of life, love, hope, happiness, freedom, and now we are going to deprive of them of their most basic necessity, their children's love. Yes, that got to me, it brought tears to my eyes as many scenes in this film did.

Solomon is now forced to deal with a vile, despicable man named Tibeats played by Paul Dano, a man who would just as soon kill a black man as listen to him speak. Solomon hears enough of him, and takes the whip to him, beats him as he has been beaten. He is then put in a noose just low enough to put his toes on the ground, just enough to stay alive. He hangs there for hours until he is saved by Ford, yet now he must be moved to a different plantation. One run by Epps (Michael Fassbender,) a man consumed by temptation and fear of God. He preaches a barbaric gospel to the slaves, one which justifies all his foul intentions. And who is the unfortunate soul who gets caught in his temptuous gaze, but Patsy (Lupita N'yongo.) He casts all his most sinister desires onto her without guilt, as if God had made her specifically for this purpose, and to him that is her purpose, "She was born and bred to the field," he says with lust in his eyes. He rapes her, whips her, hovers over her, and his wife hits her, casts jealous eyes her way, and Patsy simply asks Solomon to spare her life and "to carry her to the lonely place of dying." She is a child whose innocence was never felt, and a soul where love has never been. Solomon says no to her request, he doesn't understand it, and that's the difference between her and him, he has felt love and life, she doesn't know the meanings of the words, she's only felt fear, pain, and misery; she's been reduced, as all slaves have been, to a fledgling and animalistic state which in no way resembles the transcendence of human life.

However, hope comes in the form of Bass (Brad Pitt,) a Canadian abolitionist who speaks to Epps greatly about the inadequacy of his treatment of black people. Epps shrugs him off, thinking him to be a fool wrapped in meaningless words. Bass lends a sympathetic ear to Solomon, and helps him to escape, but only Solomon can leave, Patsy and all the others must stay in these horrid, hopeless, and horrific conditions, Solomon is forced to save only himself, as an animal would, reducing him even more, leaving him with guilt beyond mention, as he says to his family upon his return, "I'm sorry," apologizing for his absence, and I'm sure, for the cruel things he was forced to do while a slave. Guilt consumes him, then his daughter eases it with her love, saying, "You have nothing to be sorry for." And the music plays and goosebumps rise and tears fill your heart for the freedom, the love, and the humanity he may now feel.

You will not see a better film this year, and maybe not for awhile. Steve McQueen can feel proud of this, his direction is spot on, never waivering from his vision, never losing his grasp of the helm, and never lets the viewer forget what they are watching. Sure there are great performances from the likes of Ejiofor, Fassbender, and N'yongo. But make no mistake about it, the camera makes this film, the movement of it, where it is, and where it is not, the mark of all the best films.