Review of 12 Years a Slave (2013) by Thegodfatherson — 18 Oct 2013
Despite a melodramatic Hans Zimmer score, the worst kind of Hollywood fanfare imaginable for this tender piece of cinema, McQueen elegantly crafts 12 Years a Slave. His camera floats through fields of cotton like a ghost, lingers on the edge in wide shots as death hangs in the air, or races from character to character as intensity builds and blood flows from the backs of the innocent.
His impulse is to move in towards Ejiofor's tearful eyes, reflecting action through a lens rather that simply showing it for gratuitous pleasure. There's much of Solomon's predicament that McQueen's film never quite penetrates, classist issues and relationships formed while surviving plantation life.
But as an exercise in emotion, 12 Years a Slave is unflinching and artful. It's the closest we'll come to living out and feeling this tragedy. Director Steve McQueen's eye is better than his sense of pacing in the nevertheless devastating drama 12 Years a Slave, featuring a standout performance from Serenity's Chiwetel Ejiofor.
This review of 12 Years a Slave (2013) was written by Thegodfatherson on 18 Oct 2013.
12 Years a Slave has generally received very positive reviews.
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