12 Years a slave : Review

WRITTEN BY: OMAR YASSER

12 Years a Slave is arguably one of the most iconic movies of

our generation as well as one of the most important movies ever made. It is an overwhelming

emotional experience and not just a typical movie. Mankind has collectively struggled on many fronts and many of its members have endured unspeakable horrors before reaching our idealistic modern world free of much of those hardships. While these horrors have been largely eradicated, they still live on in different forms even in today’s world. One of the most horrific of those practices is slavery. This movie takes one of the most personal, heart wrenching and painful firsthand accounts of slavery in pre-civil war America and adapts it to the big screen, giving us a masterpiece that reveals a darker side of mankind in the most unapologetic and touching way.

Credit: IMDB

The movie is an adaptation of the 19th century memoirs of Solomon Northrup, a free black

man born in the north who unfortunately gets kidnapped and sold to slave traders in the south, where slavery was still rampant. The cinematic adaptation was made by screen writer John Ridley. British director Steve McQueen is the man behind this magnum opus of cinema. His dark and gritty style of directing was a perfect match for delivering the strong emotions imbued within the memoirs. To further supplement this emotional experience, world renowned composer Hans Zimmer creates a beautiful soundtrack for the film. Solomon was an educated man and also a talented musician. His identity meant nothing for the slavers and your only option as a slave back then was to fall in line or get brutally punished, even killed. The story revolves around how Solomon slowly lost his humanity over the years, his miserable life on the plantations, the brutality inflicted upon him and other enslaved blacks, the moments of despair and his long journey towards reclaiming his precious freedom.

Solomon Northup is portrayed by British-Nigerian actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, offering movie

goers a truly heartfelt and outstanding performance that eventually landed him a much deserved BAFTA award among several others. The fear, anxiety and horror of the character is masterfully delivered not only through words but non-verbally in a convincing and memorable manner. This performance helped in bringing a story of a long gone man back to life and felt. The movie also featured an amazing cast that included Brad Pitt, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender, among many others. The strongest themes present in the movie are of course slavery and the pertaining racism. The movie manages to capture what black people could’ve went through as recently as the 19 th century in the American south. Religion was a powerful theme also present in the film as it shows both how it gave destitute slaves a glimmer of hope while it also gave the means of justifying slavery for the slave masters who utilized Christianity for that malevolently. Not just did the movie present a phenomenal performance and a solid story, but stunning visuals and cinematography worthy of praise, along other production features that hand in hand made the movie so successful. Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt shot the movie on 35mm film in wide screen claiming that it would be appropriate to show an “Epic tale of human endurance” and it indeed does. Filmmakers conducted intensive research that included examining art pieces

from the period to design historically accurate clothing and even took it as far as using clothes

worn by actual slaves. To add even more realism, the movie was mostly shot on four historical

former slave plantations that still exist today.

The movie received very positive critical response and is considered to be a very

successful production. The movie was praised by both professional reviewers and normal

audiences alike for the bold story. To cement its success, it managed to win three academy

awards of best motion picture of the year, best performance by a supporting actress and best

writing adapted to screenplay. Not only that but it also received multiple nominations. Also it

managed to secure golden globe and BAFTA wins among countless other awards. Personally I think the movie has won many hearts by the captivating yet heartbreaking story. To this very

day, many black communities still carry the scars and pains inflicted on their ancestors during

that dark phase of history that we must not forget. It brings it closer to home and renews the

horribleness of slavery by a forgetful society. A movie that is a must watch for everyone and

definitely a 10/10 masterpiece.