"It's a fact, a plain and simple fact, that what is true and right is true and right for all."

Rating: 9/10 (2 March 2014)

Well tonight is Oscar night as I write this, and this picture will likely garner it's share of awards. It deserves it's accolades, but I have to say, it's tough picture to watch at times. The whipping scenes in particular are extremely brutal, and just as in "The Passion of the Christ", I have to wonder if any person's human body can stand up to that type of torture. It's too graphic even for words, and rending another person's flesh as depicted seems almost incomprehensible.
Which is the point I guess. The brutality of slavery is on display here in all it's horror, and in today's politically charged climate, this makes for exceptional Oscar fodder. Too bad it were not otherwise. The film could probably win on it's own merits without the politics of the Academy involved, and if it does win Best Picture, who will know for sure? Of course this all a few hours before the fact, so in a little while I guess all the guessing games can begin.
As well as the picture itself, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o are solid contenders for their respective categories. The scene where Patsey begs Solomon to end her misery was a standout for me, and spoke to the unbearable circumstances so often associated with slavery and it's horrors. Again, a tough picture to watch, but probably an important one if it helps bridge the atrocities of a past century with healing instead of divisiveness.