Comedy??????

Rating: 9/10 (7 October 2014)

Let me start by saying this is not the comedy I was expecting..no, I know it's not a comedy.
Several months ago my wife and I were going to the movies and had a choice of seeing this film or a light comedy. I opted for the comedy offering that "I didn't feel like seeing black Americans being beaten for 2 hours". Well the other night I guess I did feel like watching said beatings because we chose to watch this amazing film on DVD in the comfort of our home.
What an amazing, unrelenting story writer & director Steve McQueen created bringing to life the dozen years the unfortunate Solomon Northup experienced as a slave in the deep south of America. Beginning with his reasonably comfortable life with his family we follow Solomon to Washington then Louisiana after he is illegally sold into bondage and does his best to exist in a world where he has no more value than livestock.
The role of Northup (or Pratt, his slave name) was very ably portrayed by British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. His role could have easily boiled down to simple outrage and hate but Chiwetel's journey is one of survival and he learned very early on that if he was to ever return to his family he would have to swallow his pride, hide his ability to read & write and exist as just another "dumb slave". In fact that's quite the life lesson for everyone watching this film; when the morons are in charge you have to act dumber than them to survive.
If I have a complaint about the film its that all but one white person in the south is portrayed as a sadistic maniac. Surely they couldn't have all been this way? One owner, Ford played by another Englishman Benedict Cumberbatch appears decent but he still employs psychopaths who enjoy terrorising the innocent blacks in their care.
The worst of the white slave owners however is the truly despicable Edwin Epps played by Irishman Michael Fassbender. A man drunk in all senses of the term; drunk with alcohol constantly and drunk with his power over the poor human beings he owns as slaves. He tortures them mentally and physically only because he can. Pushing them to the point where death comes as a welcome relief for the departed and as a result to be envied by those left behind.
If you haven't yet taken the opportunity you should watch 12 Years a Slave. It's well written, beautifully directed and the performances are outstanding. with the only exception of one big name Hollywood star who appeared to be reading his lines from cue cards and offered very little emotion in what was a pivotal role. That being said, without said actors support the film wouldn't have been made and that would have been an endearing tragedy.
I rank this movie in the same category as Schindlers List in that it moved me to such a degree I'm not sure I can watch it again. Not because of the horror and depiction of man's inhumanity against his fellow man but because I don't want to dilute the power of this film.