Difficult to take, but a masterpiece nonetheless!

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2014)

Steve McQueen has done something truly remarkable here. I loved "Django Unchained" to death purely for Quentin Tarantino's style, but this is the slavery film of the century. This is the most remarkable film to tackle slavery that I've ever seen. It's handled with such realism and uncompromising power that it's very difficult to handle at times. I know, being white myself, that I felt such an overwhelming feeling of shame while watching it, and I think that's entirely due to McQueen's passion and drive.
There are scenes in this film, one scene in particular, where you want him to cut away, but he doesn't. It's almost as if McQueen is there in the theater with you; holding your eyes open and saying "No. Watch." There's a lashing scene early on in the film that is particularly disturbing, mostly due to the mind-blowing performance by Chiwetel Ejiofor, which I'll speak more about later. McQueen stays on this one shot where you can see the pain Ejiofor's face, the unfiltered rage of the man doing the lashing, and the brutal impact of the board and the belt on Ejiofor's back. It's disturbing and unsettling, but unquestionably brilliant.
Now onto my favorite aspect of the film, the performances. Wow! That's the only word I can think of to properly describe the tour de force work by the entire cast. This cast is a wet dream for a filmmaker: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt, and the list goes on and on. However, the most impressive of this host of masters was Ejiofor. He steals the show in a way that I can't possibly put into words. I'm man enough to admit that he actually made me cry, which isn't easy to do in movies. The weight of the screenplay and the power of the performances combined together was something to marvel at. Some of the best acting work I've seen all year. Although I do still hold to my statement that DiCaprio in "The Wolf of Wall Street" was the best lead performance of the year.
Overall, this film was perfect. The directing, the performances, the writing, the editing, the cinematography. This is literally a perfect biopic. I'm going to do something I never ever do, I'm going to redact my statement that "Wolf of Wall Street" was the best film of 2013. This is a masterpiece that will live on forever! I just can't believe what I just witnessed! An amazing experience!