A Great Film Experience

Rating: 10/10 (20 February 2014)

Steve McQueen's calculating, unerring eye shows you everything you need to see to form a judgment, but he wisely collaborates with both the great John Ridley ("U-Turn"), whose script gives "12 Years A Slave" a deep texture, and actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who, working with committed filmmakers, allows his presence to become a blank canvas for McQueen and Ridley to convey their fear, anger, frustration and compassion. (Other examples of this in cinema are Catherine Deneuve and Luis Bunuel in "Belle de Jour"; Adrien Brody and Roman Polanski in "The Pianist"; and Brad Pitt and David Fincher in "The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button".) The result is a riveting, unrelenting and ultimately tragic story of slavery set against the backdrop of the lush (and indifferent) beauty of the Deep South. McQueen's focused tracking shots (the rich cinematography is by Sean Bobbitt) draw you into Ejiofor's point of view only to separate you at crucial moments so that you feel the crushing emotional weight of each character (in particular, during a brutal lashing that becomes the film's devastating climax). There are deeply felt supporting performances by a brave Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch (sympathetic in his conflict), the frequently overlooked Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong'o (whose despair permeates the film) and Michael Fassbender as the cruel plantation owner who comes to represent the South's many paradoxes; but note should also be made of Sarah Paulson as Fassbender's wife--it's her outrage at both her husband and her surroundings that lends the film the critical addition of sexual tension. A great film, one that demands future revisits.