12 Years a Slave Review

 12 Years a Slave is a great film. It's an unrivaled showcase of what life was like for slaves. It's a brutally honest film that is amazingly, but not unexpectedly, based on a true story. It amazes me that this is true and yet it seems perfectly normal. The film begins showing Soloman's life, in New York with his family. He is shown to be an educated, well spoken, family man, which was rare for a black man, even in the North. Suddenly, we're thrown into the world of slavery, having been kidnapped and sold to a slave owner called Ford in the vastly different world of Louisiana. This is when the film becomes most real. It, unlike so many other films, perfectly tells the story of the slaves. Forced to be something he's not, illiterate, not educated, and a slave, rather than the free man he really is. Chiwetel Ejiofor is perfect in the role. He takes the role and really brings it to life.
 The film has its cringe-worthy moments, not for bad quality, but for what occurs in the film, something that is too shocking to even comprehend. Paul Dano's twisted and mocking version of 'Run Nigger Run' is a horrible and haunting realisation for what the slaves had to live through. Another moment is when Patsey, a slave who caught the attention of the slave owner, is brutally whipped, multiple times. Epps declares there is no sin as far as his property was concerned and this shows the view that the slaves were property, not seen as human, just as something that can be bought and sold, traded and killed with no second thought. This is shown when Platt is on his way to the store to pick up items and he comes across a scene where 2 slaves are about to be hung. What really hits home is that he knows he can't do anything about it unless he wishes to join them with a noose around his neck. As he walks away, the camera looks back and we are shown the 2 being pulled into the air as they struggle before the camera leaves and we already know what happens next. Perhaps the best part of the film is when Brad Pitt's character is introduced, as we see a white man who is against slavery and is the only source of a voice of anti-slavery in the film.
 This film is unlike any other on slavery. Its brutally honest in its telling of the story and is by no means an easy film to watch. Expect to feel some white guilt as the characters are so easy to pity and feel sorry for, credit the outstanding acting for this. It may be the one of the best films since the turn of the century and is worth watching, but don't expect to enjoy the film in the traditional sense of the word.