Chiwetel Eijifor, Micheal Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson and Brad Pitt
Screenplay by John Ridley, based on the book by Solomon Northup
Directed by Steve McQueen
20 years ago, Steven Spielberg's masterpiece Schindler's List was released. It was a groundbreaking, brilliant film that transcended the boundaries of mere art to stand as a document to history, and more importantly, to the truth. In the two decades since then, we've seen some classic films, but nothing that can truly be compared with this genuinely life changing work.
Until now.
In 1841, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free black man living with his wife and two children in Saratoga Springs, New York. He makes his living playing the violin. One day he is lured into a lucrative touring gig by a pair of men . After a night out in Washington, D.C. with the two men, Northup awakens to find himself chained to the floor. In shock at what has happened, Northup realizes he has been drugged and sold into slavery.
Now under the name of Platt, Northup is transported by ferry to New Orleans, where he is purchased as a slave by plantation owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch of Star Trek Into Darkness and the BBC's Sherlock). Enduring his new life, Northup stays on good terms with Ford as he assists him by engineering a waterway for transporting materials more swiftly. Northup's musical ability is also discovered, with Ford providing him with a violin. Because of his success on the plantation, overseer John Tibeats (Paul Dano) becomes jealous of Northup, leading to many quarrels between the two, and eventually, violence.
Northup is handed over to another plantation run by abusive slave driver Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a cruel and vicious man who takes a genuine religious pride in his abuse of his slaves, but harbors a fondness for Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o), a young woman who consistently out picks every other slave in the cotton fields. Epps' creepy sexual fixation on Patsy is obvious to all, especially his wife (Sarah Paulson), and she is a constant pawn in a war between the couple. Throughout all of this, Solomon both suffers and witnesses countless unspeakable acts, and must do his best to follow his conscience while at the same time keeping one simple and singular goal in mind: survival.
Eijiofor, a British actor who is perhaps best known to American audiences for his villainous role in Joss Whedon's cult classic Serenity (and also played a supporting role in Spielberg's underrated slavery epic Amistad), gives a subtle yet utterly mesmerizing performance as Solomon. One of the many brilliant choices made by director Steve McQueen (not to be confused with the star of The Great Escape and Bullit) is letting us get to know Solomon and his family as people, leading ordinary, comfortable lives. Despite the time period, as a viewer you find yourself not defining The Northup's by the as black people: they are the same as anyone else for the most part, though subtle moments involving the glances from passersby or a sequence where the family encounters a slave who wanders into a shop, betray the attitude of racism that still exists toward them.
But being a free man, Solomon chooses to live as such and not dwell on such things. This makes the harsh awakening to his new reality all the more brutal and unthinkable both to Solomon and the viewer. How can this be happening to this man? And yet . . . what exactly is the difference between Solomon and the other slaves? Does he deserve this life any less than they do? What is the difference between the black slaves and the paid white workers? And ultimately, of course, what is the difference between the dominant white race and the subjugated Africans.
Director McQueen tells his story with an unflinching hand, but never with a heavy hand. While I vehemently disagree with Spike Lee and others who insist that such stories should only be told by black directors, it is undeniably interesting to think that the white actors playing the vicious slave owners are in fact working for an artist who is himself black. Both McQueen's closeness to the subject matter and his distance from it (McQueen comes from West London and his history as artist has never been defined by making angry, racially charged films) make him the perfect choice to tell Northup's story. His deft and expert hand reveals a master filmmaker at work, and he gives us the full impact of the violent brutality and hatred these characters endure without wallowing in blood, showing a surprising amount of restraint without ever compromising the impact of the harsh truth that must be understood. It's impossible not the contrast McQueen's brilliant work with last year's best picture nominee Django Unchained, wherein director Quentin Tarantino not only spared no violent image, but reveled in it to the point where whether it was the black protagonist getting his vengeance or the cruel slave owners committing atrocities, even at it's harshest, it was ultimately meant to be a work of entertainment , and if that didn't bother before now, it might after seeing 12 Years A Slave. And the answer to the question Tarantino will inevitably be asking at some point, "why is no one upset that this film uses the N word so many times but it's not getting the negative reaction that it did with Django is ridiculously simple: McQueen uses it to tell the truth, and never uses it as a punchline.
The cast is nothing short of amazing all around, and Eijiofor should be considered a major contender for Best Actor, but the really serious talk is surrounding Fassbender and Nyong'o, who are truly unforgettable. It's impossible not to see strong similarities between Fassbender's Epp's and Ralph Fiennes famous portrayal of Nazi Commandant Amon Goeth, or Nyong'o's Patsy and Embeth Davidtz' Helen Hirsch, but it's merely in the real life similarities between the devilish yet pathetic men and the victimized but strong women the actors portray, and while the quality of the performances is comparable the details are not. much of the supporting cast is made up of recognizable, even iconic, names and faces, and in the hands of a lesser director this might take away from the sense of reality. But McQueen uses it to the film's advantage; each one of these stars, from Paul Giamatti to Brad Pitt, are cast as characters that plays such a pivotal role in the expereince that is being burnt into Northup's mind, as well as the audience's, that there is every reason why they not only should but need to stand out as larger than life.
As if all of this wasn't enough reason to single out 12 Years A Slave as something truly special, there's the added factor of Hans Zimmer's inspired score. While I've long been a fan of Zimmer's work, ranging all the way back to Driving Miss Daisy, he's become the McDonalds of film music, churning out forgettable, made to order scores by the dozens over the past 8 years or more, with only a few memorable ones standing out, and certainly nothing that could be called inspired. In my opinion her reached a personal all time low with his lazy, cookie cutter score for Man of Steel only a few months ago. He redeemed himself more than a bit with his gorgeous work on Ron Howard's Rush, but it was still unmistakably a Zimmer score from the first few chords. This is not inherently a bad thing: style is welcome as long as it remains sincere. But I sat through this film without a clue as to what great composer was responsible for this beautiful, haunting and subtle score than always supported the film but never overpowered it, suspecting that it might be Alexandre Desplat, but never once suspecting it might be Zimmer. Reading his name on the ending credits I beamed with delight at the reminder of why I ever counted him among my favorites, and hope he is given a chance to stretch his wings like this again soon.
In the end, this is a movie that needs to be seen, and that I would recommend to anyone, even those who do see R-Rated films. It stands as a powerful reminder that racism is not only a shameful part of American history, but still flourishes today in this country, it' modern form less obvious but perhaps for that very reason alarming and worthy of our attention.
Simply put, 12 Years A Slave is the best and most important film since Schindler's List. If that doesn't make you want to see it, I hope it makes you feel like you have to.
12 Years A Slave is Rated R for brutal violence, racial slurs and some profanity (though interestingly, I don't recall a single F-word being spoken in the movie), nudity, and sex.
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