Review of 12 Years a Slave (2013) by Gregory G — 01 Jul 2014

Emotionally staggering drama based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor); an educated, sometime musician and free black man, sold into slavery in early nineteenth century America. This is the first major American motion picture to depict the everyday horrors and socio-economic interrelationships of that institution with real complexity.

Ejiofor is commandingly composed; Michael Fassbender is the sadistic plantation owner; Sarah Paulson is his sexually jealous wife; Benedict Cumberbatch is a hypocritical preacher. As the debased slave Patsey, newcomer Lupita Nyong'o is both extraordinarily beautiful and haunting.

Director Steve McQueen, a British black man and former visual artist, shows a mastery of composition with imagery comparable to Goya. There are sequences of great power and artistry that are unforgettable: the sounds of a mother wailing over being separated from her children; a prolonged hanging where Solomon's toes are dangling above the ground as other slaves go about their routines, seeming oblivious to his plight, to avoid a similar fate; a drunken dance with slaves and their master; Patsey's despairing plea to Solomon to end her life; the unbroken shot where one slave is forced to brutally whip another and we simultaneously see their suffering faces.

Hans Zimmer's score is occasionally used for a sinister effect that is faulty. Cinematography is by Sean Bobbitt. Editing by Joe Walker. Screenplay is by John Ridley. Won Oscars for Best Picture, Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o), and Adapted Screenplay.

With Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Alfre Woodard, and Brad Pitt, who is one of the producers.