Welcome back to the first DECADE OF BEST PICTURES series of reviews where we will be taking a
look at a decade of Best Picture winners over the course of 10 days. In this
series we will be looking at the decade of Best Pictures from 2005-2015 in
reverse chronological order! This third entry will be for the 2013 Best Picture
winner 12 YEARS A SLAVE!
12 Years a Slave
is the 2013 Best Picture winner and masterpiece from director Steve McQueen. This
tells the horrifying true story of Solomon Northup, a New York-born free
African American during the period of slavery who was tricked and kidnapped and
sold into slavery for 12 years before eventually escaping and being released.
This film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch,
Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, and Alfre
Woodard.
This is a tough movie to watch but I have no other word to
describe this than “masterpiece.” It truly is. Much like what Schindler’s List did for holocaust
stories, 12 Years a Slave
unflinchingly shows the horror of slavery in the American south. Every moment
that Solomon is trapped in this world is horrifying and kind of unfathomable.
Even starting with Benedict Cumberbatch’s character who, in the grand scheme of
slavers, is not the worst but as the
movie observes correctly, he still is a slaver. But then, it all turns when
Solomon is sold to Michael Fassbender’s character who is a slave breaker and
someone that we see as truly pure evil. In this situation the horrors of this
system are ever more apparent in the most grim and effective ways possible.
McQueen’s directorial strength of this film was to move
slowly through scenes and linger on things that are uncomfortable to really
make the audience empathize with the characters in this awful situation and
begin to appreciate how truly horrifying the whole situation is. Everything is gorgeously
shot, perfectly contrasting the prim and properness of the Antebellum South
with the grime of life as a slave. The ability to do that requires a level of
vision and attention that very few filmmakers possess and I think McQueen and
cinematographer Sean Bobbitt found that balance absolutely perfectly.
A major highlight that makes this film work are the
performances. Chiwetel Ejiofor is brilliant as Solomon Northup. He has this
naivety about the situation, particularly at the beginning, and you see him go
on this tragic journey over the course of the film that makes the impact of the
situation all that more effective. Lupita Nyong’o also had this film as breakout
role. She is brilliant in this movie and the film’s most difficult scene
involves her right at its center and she is simply perfect. Finally, the actors
playing the slavers, particularly Cumberbatch, Dano, and Fassbender, are
unflinching and perfect. They all come off just right in these roles and make
their characters genuinely unforgiveable at the end of the day which is
absolutely what the film required of it.
I have almost zero problems with this film. The only, tiny
point of contention I have with this film is the use of Brad Pitt in his role.
He plays the good white guy who sees slavery as wrong and makes a point of it
(and, of course, ends up helping our protagonist). With such an identifiable actor
(who I also knew produced this film) in this kind of role takes me out of the
film ever so slightly as I see a powerful actor putting himself in a role to
make him look really great. At the end of the day, this doesn’t matter and
doesn’t make this film any less brilliant overall.
12 Years of Slave
is an excellent film. It perfectly shows something horrifying that people
really need to see to get a deeper
understanding of why it was so horrible. Theory is nice (and important), but the
reality is so much more striking and McQueen brought us to this reality in a
brilliant way and made a film that will live on throughout the ages.
Ryan’s Score: 9.5/10
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