'12 Years A Slave' Review

'12 Years A Slave' (2013) Review

Steve McQueen (‘Hunger’, ‘Shame’) directed, whilst John Ridley wrote the screenplay. Chiwetel Ejiofor leads the cast as Solomon Northup, with Lupita Nyong’o, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch and Brad Pitt supporting in various roles.

Adapted from the best-selling 19th-century memoir written by Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who suddenly had his liberty taken away after being kidnapped and sold for slave labour in Louisiana, ’12 Years A Slave’ (12YAS) tackles the issue of slavery with commendable realism and a level of unrelenting brutality not before seen in other films confronting the same subject.

Unlike the more recent slavery-based pieces, such as Quentin Tarentino’s ‘Django: Unchained’ (2012) and Lee Daniels’ ‘The Butler’ (2013), 12YAS is revised from a first-hand account, giving a more personal, hard-hitting and raw experience for the audience. At times, the piece is hard to watch, from the sequence where Northup is strung up at a tree and the shot lingers on for what feels like an age whilst people around him continue on with their work, to the flat-out savage scene in which Patsy (Nyong’o) is tied to a pole and whipped by Northup and Epp’s (Fassbender). The film does not hold back, and nor should it. It was made to make the audience feel uncomfortable, as the topic of slavery in general in the West today does; many would like to forget that this kind of behaviour ever happened, but it can’t be and shouldn’t be. The piece should be commended for its portrayal of slavery as it may be the first to truly do it justice. Audiences need to be shocked by this, because it is true.

The acting talent is stellar, with Fassbender and Nyong’o particularly impressive as the crazed, obsessive slave owner and the emotionally crippled aim of the former’s affections, respectively. Ejiofor does a notable job in the lead, showing the progress of Northup’s changing attitude over time. From the initial defiance to when he embraces with the other slaves when singing “Roll Jordan Roll”, as well as the very touching final scene when he is reunited with his family. However, looking at it from a cinematic angle, not just an historic angle, the character is not fully explored or developed.  Audiences will side with him, as they should, but that may just be the problem, he is looked at as an idol, not necessarily a real person. This isn’t Ejiofor’s fault, leading on to a larger problem with the film.

As a piece of cinema 12YAS lacks something. The story is without doubt powerful and engaging with some very moving scenes, yet it does not go beyond the historical documentation of which is comes from. There are traces of McQueen’s talent and vision, but it is not developed consistently. It almost feels as if the piece has been made for the commercial and mainstream audiences, as it is rather simplistic in its approach, and it also leaves out some parts of Northup’s original account, whilst adding some fictitious events. Conversely, it can be argued that this was McQueen’s intention, to show the rawness of Northup’s life and elicit a response, which it does. The script isn’t necessarily anything truly remarkable, but again, this way, it meant there were no deviations from the source. Also, the inclusion of Brad Pitt in the role of Samuel Bass, a progressive Canadian, seemed forced and actually detracted from the film towards the end. I can’t help but feel that if an actor not so well known played the role, I would have connected more with the character.

Overall, 12YAS is an important film about an important story. The narrative of the piece was near perfection. The way it was shot and pieced together was beautiful, from the stark contrasts between human brutality and natural serenity, whilst the cast was very well thought out and performed well in their roles. The fact that it does Solomon Northup’s life justice shows how good McQueen is as a director and allows the audience to, perhaps for the first time ever, experience the true life of a slave.