Powerful and harrowing

Rating: 9/10 (26 November 2013)

Alright, imagine if you are living an ordinary day; and then the next suddenly you find your life torn away from you, and you are thrown into a different life, full of misery, despair, oppression, and brutality, possibly for many years. Well, this is exactly what happened to Solomon Northup, a free black man who, in 1841, was kidnapped, beaten, and sold into slavery. And he remained in slavery for twelve years, until he has rescued in 1853 from a plantation he was working on in Louisiana. In fact, Northup only one of the numerous people to whom this actually happened, but he was one of the only ones who regained their freedom.
Shortly after regaining his freedom, he published his story in a book titled 12 Years a Slave, which I read prior to seeing the film, and which director Steve McQueen has now adapted into said film, with the same title. Many reviewers have already summarized essentially how I personally feel about this film, so I apologize if this review feels redundant to you readers. Rather than just trying to grab money and capitalize on the market, McQueen brings to the screen an honest, accurate portrayal of the harsh conditions and life of slavery. And it old through the eyes of a man who was not born and raised as a slave, but a free end educated man who ended up having experience in both the slave and free worlds. As for the cruelty and brutality, the film doesn't tone any of it down. In fact, some scenes were difficult to watch, they were so disturbing. This film actually allowed me, to a considerable extent, to experience a bit of antebellum Southern United States slavery as it actually was. IT could also be argued that the film offers a strong view of how cruel and evil humans can be, and have been at times in the past.
The performances in this film are excellent. The script doesn't give Northup much "development," but Chiwetel Ejiofor gives his character depth and humanity through his powerful, superlative performance. He reached out grabbed by emotions strongly, pulling me into his experiences, from a free man, to his abduction, and through his experience as a slave, during which he kept the fact of his freedom mostly silent but nevertheless remained determined to someday get it back. I especially liked the way he conveyed so much emotion though facial expressions, and especially through his eyes. I predict an Oscar nomination for Ejiofor.
All of the other performances were highly commendable as well. Not all of the white people portrayed in the film, however, are cruel. A counter example is William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). Cumberbatch's character in the film is a 180 turn around from his performance as the evil and menacing Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness. His character, Ford, while blinded by the social and cultural mores of the antebellum South, treats Northup with unexpected kindness (and I look forward to future performances by Cumberbatch). Another such counterexample to the common white cruelty of the time is Bass (Brad Pitt), who eventually helps Northup to escape. As for the not-so-kind people, there are two who reflect the general beliefs and unpleasantness of many southern whites. They are Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a plantation owner and one of Northup's owners, and John Tibeats (Paul Dano), a worker for Ford. And yes, Fassbender and Dano's performed well.
While scenery is certainly not the primary draw of the film, I want to give a thumbs up for the film's cinematography and visual aspects, and Hans Zimmer's music score, which helped enhance the experience. As for the screenplay, John Ridley did a good job adapting the book into a screenplay. He did make a few minor tweaks and condensed the story a bit - in fact, there are one or two particular scenes that I think should have been included in the film, and I think that they would have made the film even better - but other than that the film is true to the book and the events.
If I were to criticize anything about the film, it would be that I really think that the feeling of twelve years passing, while effective, should have been stronger. In fact, while I liked the film and the way everything was handled in it, I felt that everything could still have been stronger - more intense, more vivid, more horrifying, more suspenseful, more gut-wrenching, more emotionally powerful, etc. But again, all of these aspects, and more, were still pretty strong in the film.
So, overall, 12 Years a Slave wasn't great like I wanted it to be, but it was good, and one of the best films of 2013; and it is an experience that I will not be forgetting anytime soon. Solomon Northup himself would have been proud of this film.
My Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)