I was disappointed

Rating: 6/10 (2 March 2014)

I must be one of the only ones who didn't love this film. As with The Wolf of Wall Street, i found it rather uninvolving and dull. To get to the reason why, here are two questions: Two questions for you dear reader (and those who have seen this film). 1. What did new things you learn about slavery because of this film? My answer is quite a few things (that free people were kidnapped into slavery, how they were sold, how they lived, how they were gagged, etc.) Maybe not revolutionary things but still. 2. Describe to me what you learned about the lead character? My answer would be: he's a educated man who loves his family and can play the violin. That's it. This, to me, is the major flaw of this film. I don't know this man. What does he think? What are his doubts? Why don't we see him do anything to try to get out or how he plans to survive this ordeal? Why does he try to run away so late into his plight? Why not try again? And most important: what 'arc' did he have? How did he change because of what happened to him? Did he learn anything? Did he grow? Did he change (for better or worse)? It's a classical approach to storytelling that goes back to the old Greeks for a reason. If a character doesn't dramatically change, there is no point for the drama. I respect the film and what it tries to do. But i never got emotionally involved/invested (because of point 2) and that made it a bit boring to me and quite disappointing.