12 Years a Slave is quite a compelling depiction of slavery at its most harrowing

Rating: 10/10 (26 November 2013)

Just watched this true story of slavery with my movie theatre-working friend. It depicts the abduction of Soloman Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) from his family in New York State to the bayous of Louisiana (my home state) where he is made a slave. Director Steve McQueen does a fine job depicting how harrowing the experience is and provides catharsis when the ending comes. He also does a nice job of providing some background of other fellow slaves like that of the doomed Patsy. If anyone who paid to see this expected to watch Brad Pitt in a big role, they must have been disappointed to see him in only a couple of scenes but he does well in those and I have to assume most of the public was enthralled by the story to not even care by that point. Anyway, I highly recommend 12 Years a Slave if you want to be challenged as a viewer by the way someone is depicted as the main character is here. Oh, and nice shots of the Louisiana locations.