Deserving of the praise...

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2014)

This was a film with an extraordinary story to tell, that was as a central pivot around slavery well known, but the sub plot to that and how Solomon Northrop came to be a slave, was most definitely not as known in popular culture (until this film anyway!).
Whilst not always the easiest watch, Steve McQueen handled bringing that to the screen really rather well and probably should have got a lot more kudos himself than his film seems to have been getting. He didn't do in a judgmental way but let Solomon's story flow...and almost tell itself. There wasn't any condescending type scenes over burdened with script, rather a lot of 'we'll display it and let you judge for yourself' type ones (the hanging scene springs to mind) & the story depicted on screen was the richer for it.
Not being a filmmaker, I cannot go too in depth on the technicalities but it looked beautifully shot too...I have heard some bemoan his style of filming, but having seen a couple of his other films I was familiar with this and comfortable with... although it felt more expensive (if that's the right word) than his previous offerings... the film was still suitably confronting...which given the topic it was always going to be. That said it was depicted in a way where you weren't looking to take sides, even though it was obvious where your sympathies should lie...but was telling that it was apparent that the more tragic figures were the slave owners and those associated to it, rather than the victims themselves. From Paul Giamatti's boorish seller to Paul Dano's unsure underhand, & Benedict Cumerbatch's sympathetic plantation owner (all superbly played) - then of course there was Mcqueen's male muse, the always excellent Fassbender (can someone just go ahead & script a film where he & Daniel day Lewis are brothers or rivals or something!) portraying the most villainous yet clearly troubled and tragic figure...battling with his feelings for Patsy whilst trying to remain stoic to how things should be in that day and age. Thinking his superiority was real when it was clearly betrayed by his mind and no more than a virtue of timing and geography...(the latter points much like Solomon's misfortune that gave the known yet unknown sub-plot of the wider theme of slavery it's arc).
The film reached its peaks around scenes involving Mr Fassbender and the incredible Lupita (fully deserving of her accolades since) but the films constant and bedrock was clearly Chiwetel Ejifor...he portrayed Solomon's anguish admirably and really captured that sense of 'why has this happened to me' that allowed the viewers to transcend the more accepted tales of slavery that have perhaps been captured before. That in itself means the film will be revered for quite some time, 8/10