12 YEARS A SLAVE (Steve McQueen, 2013) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (28 February 2014)

In December 2012, SHAME (2011) – the director's previous effort starring Michael Fassbender (who appears in this one as well) – was among the top contenders for the European Film Awards held here in Malta; I opted to watch it at the time, and recall not being exactly admiring of the end result. 12 YEARS A SLAVE, then, took McQueen to Hollywood and a theme presumably close to his heart (being a black man, despite his British pedigree) i.e. an ostensibly true account of slavery in the Deep South a few years before it was eventually abolished; on the other hand, Fassbender had already been featured in Quentin Tarantino's INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (2009) – supporting Brad Pitt, who himself assumes a small role in the movie under review apart from co-producing it! Well, the film is slated to win a number of its nine Oscar nominations (including Best Picture!) come Sunday: the other nods being for Direction, Actor (a reasonably impressive Chiwetel Ejiofor), Supporting Actor (Fassbender incessantly hamming it up!), Supporting Actress (Lupita Nyong'o – whose hardly outstanding talent is only evident in a few instances!), Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Production Design (this category seems to be referred to as Art Direction/Set Decoration no longer!) and Costume Design.
From my average rating, one can gauge that my reaction to this was lukewarm: there are several reasons for it but, chief among them, is the fact that, rather than seeming its own film, 12 YEARS A SLAVE feels like bits and pieces from older titles relating to the subject matter concerned (notably GOODBYE UNCLE TOM {1971}, MANDINGO {1975} and DJANGO UNCHAINED {2012}). However, none of these had mustered quite the level of gravitas that so wears McQueen's approach down – exemplified by various shots, songs (for what it is worth, the entire score tends towards over-emphasis) and even cries that linger on endlessly in its striving to make some point or other! – while also coming off in its copious whipping sequences as the most gloatingly sadistic mainstream release since THE PASSION OF THE Christ (2004)!! To which must be added its parade – a caricatured depiction, if ever there was one – of obnoxious "white trash": not just behaving boorishly towards the slaves which they treat as property to be utilized in any way they deem fit (most reprehensibly by Fassbender's perpetually grumpy spouse, who throws a whiskey glass container in the face of hubby's favourite Nyong'o!) but proving Bible-thumping hypocrites into the bargain!! For the record, Ejiofor is the cultured and music-playing real-life protagonist (on whose book the script is based) – a free black man 'shanghaied' from New York to the Deep South, but ultimately reclaimed and returned to his family by a former "master" – whereas Pitt turns up intermittently during the last third as a sympathetic carpenter (sporting an unbecoming Amish-type beard!) who likewise has a hand in the hero's renewed liberation; the extensive cast list also showcases the likes of Paul Giamatti and Benedict Cumberbatch.