12 Years a Slave was film that I wanted to hate. The hype surrounding it and the overly positive nature of the critical reception of the film put my back up immediately. I wanted to watch the film and find as many flaws as possible. Only problem was there are no flaws. Well ok that's a lie but they are few and far between to say the least. 12 Years a Slave is a brilliant film fully worthy of it's Best Picture win in both the Baftas and Golden Globes and should, rightfully, walk away with the Academy Award for Best Picture too.
12 Years a Slave is the true story of Solomon Northrup (Chitwetel Ejiofor), a free born African-American in the 19th Century, who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Amongst the various characters in the film which Solomon meets are the 'good' slave owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), his head carpenter John Tibeats (Paul Dano), fellow slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o), 'bad' slave owner Epps (Michael Fassbender) and nice guy Brad Pitt (Brad Pitt).
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| Theatrical Release Poster |
Well let's get my few negative comments about the film out of the way first. Several of the characters in this film are boring and one dimensional. Benedict Cumberbatch's nice slave owner has so little screen time that it is impossible for even an actor as good as Cumberbatch to create a believable character of William Ford. Instead we get a fleeting glimpse of a 'nice' man who preaches from his bible yet still keeps slaves. Paul Dano is again the not very likable guy who gets too worked up (haven't seen that before) and beats people (although I'm sure John Tibeats would debate that the slaves are in fact people). Brad Pitt has two scenes where we realise that he is nice guy who will help the poor black man. These characters do serve a thematic purpose. Ford shows the hypocritical nature of the nice slave owner, Tibeats the ferocity of the overseers and Pitt that not all white guys are evil (and some are so nice that God allows them to marry Angelina Jolie). The problem with these characters being completely one dimensional is that it makes the film boring and predictable in places. I managed to guess the exact way in which Northrup was going to leave Ford's ownership the minute that I saw that John Tibeats was a sadist who likes to beat the slaves with very little provocation. I know that this is all historical and actually took place but the way the characters are presented in the film makes it blindingly obvious what will happen. This, for me anyway, detracts from the film and makes me lose interest. It also meant the actors gave a worse performance. Benedict Cumberbatch was awful. His accent was appalling as compared to his fellow Briton Chitwetel Ejiofor. His failure to produce a convincing accent, when coupled with his underwritten character, meant all I saw was Benedict Cumberbatch flouncing around in tails being nice. Now, however much his thousands of fans may enjoy that, I would say that is generally not good for the film. There is a problem with selecting well known actors for small roles in that it takes you out of the film and makes their character less believable. For example, when Brad Pitt appears for about 2 scenes I just couldn't see past Brad Pitt. There was no character there at all. This casting detracted from the film in my eyes as it made me see not characters but actors.
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| The Holy Trinity? Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o and Chitwetel Ejiofor |
Anyway on to the numerous good things! The question is where to start. I'll start with the acting. Chitwetel Ejiofor is amazing in this film. His performance is not big and bold like,say Heath Ledger as the Joker in the Dark Knight, but, much like Christian Bale's in American Hustle, he creates a believable character that audience actually cares about. He not only does that but he portrays each of Solomon's emotions perfectly at every stage in the film. The only way to say it is that Solomon feels like a real human being and in a film which is all about the degradation of human beings that is the most important thing that an actor can bring. There are lots of contenders for Best Actor at this year's Academy Awards but in my opinion Chitwetel Ejiofor has given a towering performance in 12 Years a Slave and would well deserve the Oscar for Best Actor. Michael Fassbender is also astounding as the slave owner Edwin Epps. When Michael Fassbender is on screen the film feels tense. His character is completely unpredictable and this is brilliantly portrayed in Michael Fassbender's electric performance. He well deserves his Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and although it seems unlikely that he will win it he nevertheless has given a brilliant performance. Lupita Nyong'o is also great in her full length feature debut as put upon slave Patsey. Now I have had a friend say to me 'She is good but all she has to do is cry'. Whilst this may be true for many scenes she actually brings much more to her performance. It is her ability to show exactly what her character is feeling with just one look that makes this an extraordinary performance but also one that is easily overlooked or dismissed.
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| Solomon Northrup (Chitwetel Ejiofor) |
The film is not only well acted however, but beautifully shot, sometimes in a horrific way. What do I mean by this? Well when, nearing the end of the film, Patsey is being whipped by Epps and Solomon it is captured in only one vivid shot with the destruction of Patsey's back only being revealed at the end of the shot. The uncut nature of the shot creates an unflinching reality to the scene which in turn makes it almost unbearable to watch. This film excels in making the viewer feel uncomfortable. This is such a brilliant thing in a slavery film because it makes the viewer sickened and distraught at the cruelty of it. Another example of the tension in this film created by the shots is when Epps takes Solomon out in the dead of night and questions him about whether he was considering running away after a tip off. The audience feels the tension in the scene but it is only after Epps has been convinced that Solomon was not going to run away that it is revealed that Epps actually had a knife pressed against Solomon. My favourite scene in the film, but also the most uncomfortable, is when Solomon is left with a noose round his neck dangling from a tree with only the tips of his feet touching the ground. The horrible gagging sound he makes and small circular motion of him him walking around on tip toe in the mud trying to stop himself from choking to death makes the viewer feel disgusted and deeply uncomfortable. I have never seen a film which so effectively makes the viewer feel that way. The fact that this scene continues for a long time prolongs the scene to a point where it is unbearable but still engrossing.
This leads nicely onto my next point which is about the pacing of the film. The film is exactly the right length. It is engrossing throughout and can be seen leading to an overall conclusion by the end. This makes for satisfying and compelling viewing and although, as I have previously mentioned, it is occasionally dull when the 1-Dimensional characters are on screen they are fortunately not around for long and such is the performance from Chiwetel Ejiofor that this does not detract from the film as much as it might have done because the viewer is so caught up with the character of Solomon Northrup and his plight. This is what I believe makes the film great- it is the development and relateable nature of Solomon Northrup to the audience. Solomon, when he is first kidnapped, wants desperately to escape or at least not be broken by his captors as is shown when he replies to being told to keep down his head and survive 'I don't want to survive- I want to live' However, Solomon changes and although he is ever looking for escape he begins to grow more accustomed to keeping his head down and working (for example when Solomon comes back to work again for Epps he stands head bowed, silent.) However, the horrific experiences that Patsey suffers at the hands of Epps starts to change Solomon back into wanting more again resulting in him approaching Brad Pitt to try and free him.
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| Michael Fassbender as Epps |
What I found most interesting in watching 12 Years a Slave and I would like to focus on for a paragraph is the comparison between it and Schindler's List. Both films deal with the dehumanisation of a particular ethic group. Both film's also have a 'nice' and 'bad' Nazi/Slave owner. The good guys in both films are slightly different with Schindler being the 'good' Nazi and Ford being the 'good' Slave owner. They are different mostly because of the difference in character development and screen time. However, the 'bad' Nazi (Amon Goeth, played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) and 'bad' slave owner (Epps) both have an attraction to one of the very people they are oppressing so callously. Goeth has, in the best scene in Schindler's list a very tense scene where he at first professes his love for a Jewish holocaust victim and then kills her in his anger when she does not return his love. This is essentially what happens to Epps throughout 12 Years a Slave. He falls for Patsey, one of his slaves, and rapes her. Then, under pressure from his wife and (fairly well founded) suspicions that Patsey does not particularly like him (can't think why) he has her beaten to within an inch of her life. Both characters are also both extremely volatile, uncaring and frankly sociopathic. The similarities between these two characters were so extreme that I began wondering why this was so. I think it because both characters represent the hypocrisy of their respective causes/ideologies. They hate this ethnic group so much yet they still find that they can fall in love with them as easily as a white or Aryan woman (if not more in Epps's case after we see his strenuous relationship with his wife).
12 Years a Slave is an ambitious film on an epic scale effectively giving the viewer an insight into the horrific time of slavery. With brilliant acting, camera work and direction any flaws this film has are forgiven and forgotten. I would not go as far to say that this film is an instant classic but whatever may be said it is a brilliant film worth seeing.
Ratings: Entertainment: 9 Intelligence: 4 Technical: 5= 18/20 *****
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