Should Have Just Stayed Home

12 Years A Slave

Every so often we are reminded of how strong the human spirit really is. In 1995 Steven Spielberg directed a film by the name of Schindler’s List, about a Nazi munitions maker hiring Jewish labor instead of letting them be taken to the concentration camps. Last year, Ang Lee tackled Life of Pi, about a shipwrecked boy and his tiger. This year, Steve McQueen tells a true story of Solomon Northup and his struggle in pre-Civil War America.

Known for his play on the violin, Solomon Northup enjoys the life of a free black man in Saratoga, New York. He, his wife, and two children live in comfort far from the oppressions of the South. When his wife must leave for three weeks, Solomon decides to accept a job playing his violin for two strangers. These strangers tell Solomon that he will earn extra money traveling to Washington, D.C while a part of their circus. On a night of celebration, Solomon is drugged by his new employers and kidnapped. Awoken in chains, Solomon’s life has then changed forever as he finds himself deep in the same cruelties he has tried to avoid.

Chiwetel Ejiofor (Serenity, American Gangster ) brings to life Solomon Northup. There are really no words on the amazing job Ejiofor does in this film. Starting off with such hope that maybe his kidnappers will see the error of their ways and slowly succumbing to the reality of his situation. Ejiofor brings such pity to Northup that you can’t but help feel what he feels. Along with Ejiofor’s performance, equally amazing is Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds, X-Men: First Class). His portrayal of Northup’s “owner”, Edwin Epps,  is brutal. The ice in Fassbenders eyes tells you all you need to know about Epps’ pure disregard for human life and that the men and woman along with Northup are just property and nothing more.  I think one other actor, though in a VERY small part, that jumps off the screen is Sarah Paulson (American Horror Story).  Equally vicious toward her “property”, Paulson is Mary Epps; Fassbender’s wife. Paulson just projects a heartlessness that I have to awe at and a coldness that emanates off the screen every time she is appears.

For a very “young” director, Steve McQueen (an awesome name if you ask me) has taken a subject matter that has been done and redone and given it a breath of fresh air. McQueen doesn’t make this film about American Slavery, but about how a man just tries to survive to see his family. He centers most of the film around Ejiofor and his emotions. He succeeds in achieving this with just the simplest of things. Close ups on his actors’ expressions really do tell more than what is being spoken.

As said before, I did not view this film as another American Slavery film because I felt it wouldn’t be fair to the equally great films of the same subject. Last year’s Lincoln, Edward Zwick’s 1989 film Glory, and the T.V miniseries Roots are all great examples of the subject. As sad as this time was in America, I would rather view the film as I did and taken in the awesome power of hope and belief that one day we, as humans, will overcome the brutalities that we are faced with in dire circumstances. On this thought, is why I think most people would enjoy this film.

Verdict: Watch In Theatres