Worth watching at least once in your life

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2014)

I finally got the chance to view "12 Years a Slave", and I'm really glad I did because this is one of the most brutal and powerful films I've seen in my life including "Schindler's List", "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Passion of the Christ".
Plot(Spoilers): Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free black man who's got it all living with his family in Saratoga, NY one day is tricked by two white men into believing he's going to play a music show in Washington D.C. and is sold into slavery on a plantation in Georgia. He then spends the next 12 years of his life (hence the title of the film) as a slave trying to survive everyday hoping for an opportunity to get a message back home or to get home himself and with the eventual help of Bass (Brad Pitt) finally returns to his family.
The acting all around is spot on: Chiwetel Ejiofor is very effective at playing a man who loses everything and there are a few scenes in this film that make you feel for his character and even shedding a tear for him. I've always known him as the bad guy from "Four Brothers" and thought of him as a good actor but he is definitely deserving of his Oscar nomination. Michael Fassbender's character (Edwin Epps) is one of the most despicable characters I've ever seen in a movie, and Fassbender knocks it out of park. His wife played by Sarah Paulson is arguably more of a monster than he is because of certain actions she commits and things she says in the film regarding a certain character. There is a scene which is shown in the trailer where she says (master brought you here to work, anything more will earn you a hundred lashes), and she says it with a look on her face that's as cold as ice. Newcomer Lupita Nyong'o as Patsy is very good at tugging at your heartstrings, Benedict Cumberbatch (KHAAAANNN! Sorry, couldn't resist) is good as the slave owner who is surprisingly a compassionate person but is ultimately a coward when given an opportunity to make the right choice. Paul Giamatti and Paul Dano do very commendable work with their roles and as for Brad Pitt: yeah when he first appeared on screen I knew what direction they would take with his character but that being said he did great playing the part.
Everything else about the film is as close to flawless as you can get. The cinematography is breathtaking, Hans Zimmer's score is excellent as usual considering his scores for other films like "Inception" and TDK trilogy. Lastly the direction by Steve McQueen is spot on. I haven't seen his other two films "Hunger" or "Shame" which both also star Michael Fassbender, but McQueen I have a feeling that he will rise as one of the best filmmakers working today. There's three particular shots he uses in the film that just astounded me as to how they were done all in one shot. Usually some directors will do multiple cuts or simply drag on with one shot that you just get bored, but with these three takes that he uses, it was very effective and jaw dropping. There were times where I couldn't look at the screen, but I appreciated how Steve McQueen was honest in his direction at showing the brutality of slaver in this time period.
A lot of people have accused this film of having the same old song and dance and while some of that is there, what makes this different in my book is that they show things like Paul Giamatti's character showing off slaves to slave owners like he's a car salesman, or how a slave could get lashes if he/she picked less than 200 lbs of cotton or even not intervening when another slave is getting theirs in order to spare themselves. All that right there shows the brutality of slaver and how it was considered the norm at the time. And at the core of the film, there's a story about this man must figure out how to survive this terrible ordeal that has been cast upon him.
But overall, this film is absolutely worth watching at least once in your life. Great performances all around, well executed story and directed beautifully by Steve McQueen. Anyone who loves film or is into history should definitely check this one out. Just be warned though because it's not easy at times to watch. I don't know if I can watch it again anytime soon, but I don't regret seeing it one bit.