Great movie, however disturbing content and brutality, but it's needed.

Rating: 8/10 (5 January 2015)

I thought that this film was excellent. The top notch acting as well as the way they present it and tell the truthful story of Soloman Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, who is abducted and sold into slavery. This film portrays the cruel treatment of slaves in such a realistic and gruesome manner. Watching the film almost makes it as if you were there with the slaves and watching them suffer, can be just as bad as how they are suffering. It's also intriguing as we follow Soloman along his journey through an array of ruthless and evil slave-owners how Soloman adapts to his life and how he changes through it. Although it can also be insulting to some as to how it portrays the white folk as the evil in the lives of the black, as that can be a hasty generalization to the majority of Caucasian race. However, the manner in which it is portrayed in really lets us feel what the slaves had to go through. Including this one extended scene in which a black girl is whipped over and over until her flesh begins to show for stealing a bar of soap. The director of this film really drives home his true intentions for what he wanted the film to be, by including several long and gruesome scenes or torture and rape. However the historical accuracy of this film makes it a must watch for those old enough to understand its content.