Review of 12 Years a Slave (2013) by Preston L — 09 Feb 2015

Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave has been getting a decent amount of Oscar buzz and critical praise has been all but unanimous, so that got me very interested to see it. And now I can see what all the press was raving about. This is an incredibly powerful, moving piece of storytelling that makes you look at the history of America and feel a little ashamed to be a part of a country where we practiced some the actions the people of this film experience.

Before we dive in, I have to say as always SPOILERS will be given as I dive into my review of the plot so unless you either have seen the film, do not care to see the film, or simply don't mind it being revealed, do not read ahead.

12 Years a Slave tells the story of Solomon Northup, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, a free African American citizen of New York who gets kidnapped and sold into slavery for, as you could probably guess, 12 years. The movie wastes no time showing you getting into the action. It opens with a day from midway through the story which shows a standard day of slave life before jumping back to 1841 and showing the whole saga from start to finish. Solomon's wife and children go away for a few weeks so his wife can work for a little extra money. During this time Solomon get's an offer to play violin for a group of travelling entertainers. Who are really slave traders who chain Solomon as he sleeps and sell off to be a slave. He is latter brought to a slave auction, given the name Platt, and bought by a plantation owner named William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). Ford is civil and Solomon uses his intellect to both hide the fact that he can read and write but also to gain favor with Ford through helping to engineer water transportation systems for logs, which are Ford's main export. In doing so he upsets one of the men who work for Ford, John Tibeats (Paul Dano), who attacks him causing Solomon to fight back and forced to leave his master for a much more belligerent and racist plantation owner, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). From there Solomon has a hard life and works at a plan to tell someone the truth about him. He is abused by Epps due to his lack of ability to pick cotton and is forced to walk a careful line with Epps, receiving frequent punishment. While on Epps' plantation he befriends a young female slave named Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) who receives equally hard treatment from both Epps and his wife. After some time at the plantation, Solomon meets a Canadian laborer, hired by Epps, named Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt). Bass expresses strong opposition to slavery, causing Solomon to confide in him and ask him to right to an official about the situation. Later Solomon is picked up by a sheriff and a man from his hometown who takes him back to his family and there is a touching and powerful reunion with his now grown children.

The story is incredibly powerful and the direction that McQueen takes with it is unbelievable. The scenes are brutal, moving, and real. There is no sugar coating here. The use of silence in this film are unbelievable. One standout scene, that shows you how much slave punishment was a "norm" of the culture is where Tibeat is trying to punish Solomon and attempts to hang him. He ties a noose around his neck and hangs him, to the point where Solomon has to stand on his toes to keep himself from suffocating. As this is happening in the foreground there is over a minute of other slaves walking past as if nothing is going on. No on bats and eye, no one moves to help him, other than a single slave who brings him water once, and no one tries to cut him down until the evening when Ford himself comes to the rescue. But this moment is nothing compared to what I have chosen to be...

Best Moment: Patsey runs of to another plantation to gain some soap because of unfair treatment from Epps' wife and as a result his whipped. The resulting scene is so brutal that you cringe and wince as the action takes place. Epps continues to defy your expectation as to how brutal he can be as a representation of the hateful and destructive slave owner.

The characters of this story are powerful examples of the good and bad in the slave world of the 1840s and 50s. Both Cumberbatch and Pitt show the lighter and much more civil side of the world while Fassbender and Dano deliver powerful and captivating performances as the other side of that coin. While the slave owners and workers are all interesting in their own right, it is the performances from Nyong'o and Ejiofor that are heartbreaking and emotional. Nyong'o, a relative newcomer brings and emotion that stands up next to the seasoned veterans of the this film and Patsey is very much seen as the ultimate tragic figure in this as she is the one who is unable to escape the life and is abused and beaten even though she does no wrong and works harder than anyone else on the plantation. Ejiofor brings amazing emotion to his expressions and you can feel every emotion he goes through, even when he doesn't say a word. His non-verbal reactions and expressions tell stories well beyond the dialogue of the film and you long for him to get free in every moment he remains in slavery.

Standout Performance: Both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender carry this story on their shoulders. Ejiofor as the protagonist drives the story and shows the powerful effect a tramatic even like this can have on a person. His characters is one that you cannot help but sympathize with and every single moment he doesn't get free builds until the final scene where all the emotion shows as he finally is reunited with his family and for me that all hit very powerfully.

The other side of that is Fassbender who transforms from his usual take of calm sophisticated characters into a raving and destructive plantation owner. He is vile, brutal, and the whole time thinks that he is in the right both in the eyes of the law and of God himself. His performance stunned me and I began to think how tough it must be to play that sort of evil. The kind of man who is so evil that you hate every action he takes all while he gets away with it and even revels in it from time to time.

The design and direction of the film are phenomenal. The music choices, and lack thereof, back up all the emotional hardships that Solomon and the other slaves go through. And the design choices and on location filming in Louisiana really make you feel the heat, and anguish of the slaves as they work the fields comes through brilliantly. McQueen's use closeups, and background moments, as I have already mentioned, tell so many stories beyond the single one in the foreground or the one that was written in the script. It is powerful emotional and unforgettable. One of the best works of cinema I have seen in a long time and I can see where all the Oscar buzz is coming from because I felt captivated leaving the theater after seeing it.

Overall rating 5/5.