Important theme

Rating: 8/10 (18 April 2016)

Film review – 12 Years a Slave
The movie 12 years a slave gives us the story of a slave called Salomon Northup. Salomon is a free man in the beginning, but he gets kidnapped and ends up in a southern state as a slave. The setting is set in southern USA in the 19th century, and is telling the story of a slave.
Salomon starts as a free man in New York City. He has a wife and kids. Then he is going to Washington D.C, but gets kidnapped when he arrives. He was sold on a slave market before he ends up on a plantation. Salomon's first owner is a person who is open to hear what Salomon has to say. They are cooperating to find out how to use the river for their advantages. Sadly, a man called John Tibeats is working there too. He is an overseer and his job is to make sure all the slaves are working properly. He gets in a fight with Salomon, and even though the slave owner is on Salomon's side, he was sold to another slave owner. When he arrives here, he was put to work in a cotton plantation. Every day they had to have at least 200 pounds with cotton. One of the slaves that improved the most was the woman Patsey. She gathered 500 pounds every day. Edwin, the owner wants to protect Patsey, even though his wife Mary wants to sell her. One day Patsey use her Sunday to visit the neighbor plantation. When he come back home with a piece of soap, she gets whipped. At the end of the film, a missionary called Samuel Bass arrives. He want to help Salomon get his freedom back. Salomon writes a letter to his friends back in New York City, to send a proof of his freedom in return. At the end a man with a wagon arrives to drive Salomon back to his freedom. When he comes home to his family, he discover that his wife has a new husband. The movie ends here with everyone embracing each other.
This film is discussing important themes, which was important then as it is today. The film is told from a slave's angel. It is describing a normal day at a plantation, and what the white slave owners did to them. They are serving us the dark USA, and are telling us how much racism it was before. It also remind us that this must never happen again. A lot of this can be compared with the world today. There are still a lot of racism and discriminating. Not just in the USA, but in the whole world.
This film includes interesting characters and dialogue. The story is good, and is taking us into the slave era. We are following Salomon during the whole movie, and the way it is told is very good. We know what he is thinking without being inside his head. The characters is well described and we know who is the bad guys when we see them and hear their first sentence. One of the negative sides is that the story is only told from one angel. To be a complete trustworthy story, they should have included at least one angel from the white people. This film is recommended for everyone, telling an important story. Score: 8/10