Many of us, especially Non-Americans, will never truly understand the horrors and atrocities associated with slavery. While hundreds of books have been written over the past century, slavery is still not a subject that Americans are entirely comfortable talking about or bringing up. It is a black-eye in their history that they would rather not discuss it and just move on. So you can just imagine the difficulty and controversy that comes with trying to make a film about slavery. Most recently, Quentin Tarantino tried his hands at it with Django Unchained. Although it was greatly entertaining, the added spaghetti western element, and the over-all style of the film really didn't give enough attention to the slavery part of the film. In fact, I dare say no Hollywood film has truly tackled the issue of slavery in the United States that would really allow the audience to connect with the characters, and perhaps really know how it feels to live in that time. Ironically, it took a British director, and a British leading actor to truly get the message across. It took a film like 12 Years a Slave to really show slavery in all its inhumanity and degradation.
Without giving much away, 12 Years a Slave is based on the true story of Solomon Northup (Chiwitel Ejiofor), a free negro living in New York, who was kidnapped and sold back into slavery. It is based on Northup's autobiography about his life and experiences as a slave, where he is forced to work for various plantation owners who range from friendly and compassionate, to downright despicable.
Now, 12 Years a Slave has been getting a plethora of awards and recognitions from countless critics, many of whom have dubbed it the best film of 2013, and the front runner for this year's Best Picture Oscar. After watching this film, I can say without a doubt that this film is worthy of every accolade it is, and will continue to get. The subject matter of the movie itself is not an easy thing to tackle, yet Steve McQueen gives us an unflinching, unforgiving, hard look into the life of slaves prior to the American Civil War. Never have I seen a film so unrelenting in its portrayal of slavery in the southern United States. You feel the pain of each slave, you see the misery and desperation in their eyes. You see the utter disgust that the plantation owners have for them, and you cringe at how they can be so evil. While it was not the most bloody or gory film, there were times where I had to turn away from the film because of the sheer brutality of what I was seeing. But this wasn't all just blood and guts spilling all over the place.
While some scenes were very brutal, it was presented in such a classy and beautiful way that they almost seemed like works of art. The cinematography was ABSOLUTELY stunning that it accentuates every emotion that the director wants you to feel. By presenting both the physical and emotional pains of the characters in such a gorgeous and meticulous manner, Steve McQueen truly made one of the most powerful and most difficult to watch films I have ever seen. It's a 2-hour kick to the sternum type film that just leaves you wondering how this film could be based on a true story. This film will be talked about for years to come, and I haven't even mentioned the excellent acting by everyone involved, which further gets the message across.
Everyone in the cast delivered stellar performances, but none more than the lead actor. Chiwitel Ejiofor gives one of the finest acting jobs I have seen as Solomon Northup. The pain and anguish of being a slave is very evident in his portrayal. Even when he is not speaking, Ejiofor just allows us to feel every emotion that he wants to portray. From anger and pure desperation, to happiness and gratitude, Ejiofor does it all in this film and He'll definitely be one of the five nominees for Best Actor. Special mention should also go to Michael Fassbender for his portrayal of the hypocritical, sadistic plantation owner Edwin Epps.
Of all the characters in this movie, I found the character of Epps to be the most complex. You'll hate him with all your heart for his cruelty to the slaves he "owns", but when he started to talk about doing what is right and being "Christian" I suddenly found myself relating him to today's society. A self-righteous, preachy, religious person who does all sorts of evils and atrocities that go against everything he preaches would fit right in today's society. Thinking further about it, although the film deals with slavery in 19th century America, many of the issues tackled in the film are still issues today.
While slavery has been outlawed for more than a century, it is ironic to see that we still live in a world filled with all sorts of prejudices. Racism is still rampant and not just in United States and against African-Americans. It is visible even in the Philippines where we make fun of those whose skin is darker than ours, or those who were born in another country. In fact, we are even racist towards ourselves when we make fun of how they speak English. And similar to the US south in the 19th Century, we see nothing wrong with what we do. We think too much of ourselves that we think we know more than everyone else. Our attitudes may not be as extreme as that shown on the film, but the mindsets are the same.
All in all, I can see why this film is getting so much attention. Comparing 12 Years a Slave to Django Unchained, while both films were wildly entertaining, 12 Years a Slave just had more soul. Everything from the acting to the methods used by director and cinematographer all contributed to making 12 Years a Slave a must watch. While it may not be as gory and bloody as Django, this film was just more in-your-face and brutal.
I urge everyone to go and see this film. It is an uncompromising look at one of the biggest ills of humanity. May this very beautiful and powerful film, not just entertain you, but also let you see that after a hundred years, we are still tackling the same issues and the same problems in our society.
9/10
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