It really is a great film

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2014)

This film has just been released in the UK where I live. It has been released in the US for a few months and so I had read quite a lot about the film. Mostly I had read very good things and I found this film really lived up to the reputation it has been gathering.
Some reviews here have mentioned that the film has too much violence portrayed, but in fact, although there are some very harrowing scenes most of the film is a study of the corruption in the human nature that came from slavery. There is absolutely no gratuitous violence in this film.
Sometimes, in just a few brief moments, we are told an enormous amount about the way people managed the slave business emotionally. Early in the film a kidnapped slave is saved by an intervention of his actual "owner". The enslaved man is delighted to be released from his uncertain fate, presumably his real "owner" is not as cruel as others. His "owner" is a large man who upon receiving his slave back hugs his slave so the slave's head is brought close to his chest, he pats the slave on the head, and the slave has such a smile on his face. It has taken me a paragraph to describe this moment in the film and in truth I have in no way done it justice, but what struck me about this brief footage was how the enslaved man was like a pet to his owner. Even when the owner is presumably not a particularly cruel man the relationship between the slave and the owner is still an extraordinary subjugation for the enslaved man. I am reminded that slaves were kept ignorant, if they showed any signs of trying to educate themselves they would be punished.
All through the film these complexities of the corruption of relationships is revealed. One very cruel slave owner is habitually raping a female slave. His wife is fully aware and the consequences for the enslaved female are that she leads an appallingly difficult life. However her worst punishment comes when she has been to a neighbouring ranch to get some soap. This perceived infidelity by the owner brings on in him a tremendous rage with appalling consequences for the young woman.
There is absolutely tremendous footage of the scenery. The world in which the cruelty takes place is quite beautiful. There was something very striking about this. The beautiful views are indifferent to the corrupt and cruel world of slavery.