A sobering depiction of a tragic time...

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2014)

Yes, this is the film that'll sweep the Oscars... it's already guaranteed. You see, Hollywood loves 'meaningful' films, so how could it possibly turn it's nose up at a drama which depicts just over a decade of suffering of a black man at the hands of those nasty whites? I may sound cynical, but if there's one thing I've learnt you can never be TOO skeptical as far as cinema politics are concerned. Movies frequently win prizes because of the 'issues' surrounding them, not due to any specific quality. It's Tinseltown's way of proving it can still connect with the people on one hand, while burning money to light their cigars with the other. Don't fall for it. Anyway, onto the review...
Chiwetel Ejiofor (In the 40's they would have made him change it to Charlie Smith on the film poster) stars as a free man back when slavery was still rampant. He lives in quite a plush house with his family, and he makes a living playing musical instruments. One day, under the guise of hiring him for a job, two white men kidnap him and transport him to a plantation for manual labour. All his protestations that he's not a slave fall on deaf ears, and soon he finds himself being worked to within an inch of his life, and beaten on a regular basis. Friends are few and far between, and the ones he think he has made have a nasty habit of betraying him. Will he ever get back to his old life? Well, watch it and find out!
I was most surprised at the end when it emerged that this is actually based on a book written by a former slave, when the practice was still legal in the 19th century. How on Earth did he managed to find a publisher willing to take the risk of putting it out there, at a time of such hostility to ethnic minorities? It just goes to show, that not everyone was as colour blind back then as you'd believe. He even managed to have his abductors arrested in court and charged, along with his slavemaster... but needless to say, the case soon collapsed. At least his example must have blazed a trail for all future enforced captives, which helped to see an end to this disgusting operation.
It feels more like a documentary than a film, as we observe our lead's suffering at the hands of his captors, while all around him are similarly under the yoke of a brutal regime. Children are separated from their mothers, women are abused by unscrupulous men, whippings are dished out for the most mild of infractions... it was a harsh, cruel world out there. There are periods where not very much happens though, this might be realistic to the original text, but it does drag proceedings down in patches. Fortunately, for the most part it is a thought-provoking, moving experience... Ejiofor is hugely sympathetic as the lead, and everyone else successfully sinks into their respective parts, to provide us with a reminder of a time we don't wanna go back to, thank you very much.
So the movie might actually be worth sweeping the board at the Academy Awards on it's own merits. I don't know... I haven't seem many of the nominees. Well, apart from Gravity. And don't get me started on THAT again... 7/10