12 Years a Slave: Oscar-worthy or Overrated?

Rating: 8/10 (10 April 2014)

With all the Oscar buzz surrounding this film you just know '12 Years a Slave' cannot possibly disappoint. And most of it doesn't. Even though the issues explored are confronting as hell, they are explored in such a raw and yet strangely beautiful way by director Steve McQueen. One such example of this was his use of off centre close-ups with the camera lingering just long enough for us to process and reflect on what had just happened in the scene.
The film briefly touched on the contrast between Solomon as a free man and a black slave he passed on the street. However I felt that this could have been explored further by delving into the backstories of the other 'real' slaves. After all is Solomon's case any more unfair than the other slaves just because he was once a free man? Shouldn't we as the audience feel even more sympathy towards those who have been the property of white men for as long as they could remember? Or is Solomon's situation different because he had a proper education and was a learned man?
I never thought the day would come where a film could actually be improved by taking out Brad Pitt but sadly he was just too 'Brad Pitt' in this movie and really did not belong in this world at all. Brad Pitt's character really hammers the viewer over the head with the themes of the film. While he famously opted not to play Fassbender's brutal character because of his children, the rest of us probably would have lived without "and the moral of the story is"
Having said that, Fassbender's character was in my opinion the most interesting and complex character. The fact that he was not completely demonised as the cruel white slave owner but was faced with an inner struggle of his own between his attraction to Patsey despite the expectations of society, including his wife.
For me one of the most powerful scenes in the film was the rape scene which treated such a sensitive issue with almost a sense of respect to the victim. Unlike rape scenes in other movies, there was very little physical struggle evident but her emotional barrier gave her a sense of empowerment over her attacker.
All in all I must say the storyline did not surprise me in any major way but the redeeming factor in this film was the hauntingly beautiful cinematography and the excellent performances by the cast ensemble (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti and Paul Dano).
IMDb: 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
(From projectreel: http://projectreel.wordpress.com)