When I first saw the trailer for Steven McQueen’s adaption of 12 Years a Slave, I knew I had to see it as soon as it was released. The star-studded film casts big names like Brad Pitt and Michael Fassbender (who actually just stared together in The Counselor), Paul Dano (Little Miss Sunshine, There Will Be Blood), the ever so cunning Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek: Into Darkness, Doctor Who), and the lovely Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story). These A-List actors executed their characters beautifully but the praise goes to Chiwetel Ejiofor, who played Soloman Northup, the main character of the film.
The film revolves around Northup, a free man who was tricked into slavery and held as a slave for twelve years. Northup had a family and was stripped of his freedom and sold to Benedict Cumberbatch’s character William Ford. During his time with Ford, Paul Dano’s character John Tibeats, becomes angered and jealous over the relationship between Soloman and Ford and of Soloman’s intelligence and talent for playing the violin; because of this, Tibeats is bent on killing Soloman so Ford is forced to sell him. Soloman tries to tell Ford that he is in fact a free man but during those times, it was very hard for colored person to prove so Soloman’s next owner is Michael Fassbender’s character Edwin Epps. Epps is an extreme racist and abuser believing it’s in the Bible to have the right to abuse his slaves. Soloman is abused viciously but after his 12 years of slavery, he is finally granted his natural born freedom.
Throughout the movie, the audience is given a very real depiction of life as a slave and as a slave owner. It’s a graphic film, sometimes I felt myself squirming as the slaves were lashed, raped, and verbally abused but I got why Steve McQueen felt the need to portray the way slaves were treated. There’s a misconception about slavery; people think that just because it happened 200 years ago, it’s no longer relevant. That’s entirely false, slavery may not exist in the United States but it is still very prominent in foreign countries.
There was a lot of heavy stuff in this film and it’s not for the faint-hearted but despite the graphic content, the cinematography and set design was spectacular. The film really captured how a Southern plantation functioned and looked. This is an Oscar worthy film, don’t be surprised if it gets nominated for “Best Film” and wins. This film may just be one of my favorites, it’s a brutal story but it ends on a happy note. The perseverance of Soloman Northup is the hope of this film. I give this film 4/4 stars for it’s outstanding cast and gorgeous setting. Don’t miss your chance to see this on the big screen, it’s completely worth the twelve dollar ticket.