Wow

Rating: 10/10 (19 October 2013)

"I will keep myself hearty until freedom is opportunity" For her crime of fetching a bar of soap in order to rid herself of her own unbearable stench, a young slave girl by the name of Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) is secured to a wooden post and relentlessly whipped by a ruthless plantation owner, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). Combine this with an earlier scene in where the camera lingers in a torturous long take over Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), as his back is brutally savaged by assorted instruments, we know that Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave will not be an easy watch. As Patsey receives her unjust punishment, Sean Bobbitt's unflinching camera captures the act of cruelty and all its agony. The girl's skin peels of her back as the whip tears through her flesh, exposing the blood and bone beneath. With every anger-filled lash, you cringe deeper into your seat, sheltered in an auditorium that has suddenly become rather chilly. The year is 1841. Based on a true story, this historical period-drama sees Solomon's life as a free family man stolen from under him when he is kidnapped and sold as a slave, first to the benevolent Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) and then to the less-humane Epps. Throughout his journey from Saratoga, New York to a plantation in Louisiana, Solomon (slave name Platt) must keep his true identity and talents a secret if he hopes to survive; "I don't want to survive. I want to live", says Solomon and with every day that goes past, his chances of freedom grow increasingly unlikely. In response to the inevitable comparisons to Quentin Tarrantino's Django Unchained, McQueen's masterpiece proudly tackles the long-untouchable subject of slavery in its own way; "Either we were going to make a film about slavery or we weren't  and we chose to make a film about slavery" says McQueen during the London Film Festival, "making a slavery movie without violence would be like making a World War II movie without shooting anyone." If the pulpster's cartoonish Django Unchained were to be considered little more than an appetiser to slavery, then the raw and difficult 12 Years A Slave is very much the main course and what a taste it leaves. As Michael Fassbender's illustrious career screams for an Academy Award, up steps McQueen  given that this is their third collaboration, with Hunger and Shame both drawing Oscar blanks, 12 Years A Slave puts the duo on track for third time lucky. The Fass's rendition of slaver Epps A.K.A the "nigger-breaker", whose mood is lightened whenever he delivers punishment to his "property", is truly remarkable and matches, if not surpasses DiCaprio's exceptional turn as Django's Calvin Candie. Ejiofor, our lead, graces us with a powerhouse performance as a broken man whose eyes know nothing but pain. His formidable rendition of a wrongfully enslaved man (not to say that any form is slavery is right) claws at our heartstrings with as much mercy as the winter shows its wildlife. Where the cinematography could be described as beautiful in the inspired way it allows the action to unfold, it feels very wrong to attach such an adjective to a film with visuals that are actually quite detrimental to one's peace of mind. Nonetheless, the creative camera-work encourages Slave's cinematic scope and as it lingers in close-up over the many lost faces, on some level this helps to restore their identities; we're given time to remember who they are. The title hints towards an inevitable conclusion, but nevertheless, this is a fantastic feature that confirms McQueen's directorial prowess See you at the Oscars. As the credits role and the auditorium falls into darkness, nobody moves. Silent. Mesmerised.