The Brilliant and Beautiful "12 Years a Slave"

Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” is at the same time a beautiful, fantastic film and a rough and very difficult film to watch. For this reason, it achieves what few films can. It brings the viewer into a difficult place and time and while we watch events unfold, we marvel at how brilliant the performances are and how deftly handled storytelling in film can be in the right hands. In an Oscar-nomination worthy performance, Chiwetel Ejiofor, who you may remember as The Operative in Joss Whedon’s “Serenity” and as Lola in “Kinky Boots,” plays Solomon Northrup, a free black man living in Saratoga, New York. He has his own property, a wife, and children. He is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Solomon’s struggle to keep his dignity and never lose faith that he would someday regain his freedom is the focus of the film.

The story, perhaps, is a familiar one, however, the way in which it is told by director, McQueen, and screenwriter John Ridley, based on the 1851 work entitled “Twelve Years a Slave,” written by Northrup, is not of a “feel-good” nature. The audience sees the horrors of slavery and the utter abhorrent attitudes of some slave owners, especially Edwin Epps, played wonderfully by Michael Fassbinder, who you may have seen in McQueen’s previous film, “Shame,” an almost equally uncomfortable, yet satisfying film. My mindset regarding film viewing is that if a film wants to show me uncomfortable things, that is great, as long as the film has redeeming qualities and the uncomfortableness makes a point. I don’t mind watching such things in a well-made film, in fact the gutsier a film is, the more I enjoy it, given the mentioned caveats. The scenes of violence and the inhumanity portrayed in “12 Years a Slave” serve a purpose. Further, “12 Years a Slave” is not another “slavery is bad” movie. The film is about Northrup and his unflinching desire to reestablish his life as a free man. I do applaud McQueen for not going the “feel good” route and not sugar-coating the reality of this deplorable and savage portion of our nation’s history. This is a strong, gutsy film, one that I hope will be recognized when Oscar nominations are announced in February. Another standout performance is that of Lupita Nyong’o as Patsey, a young slave who sees Solomon as a father figure, to put it, perhaps tritely, but this is basically their relationship in the film. Solomon sees her as a daughter as he has not seen his family in several years. It would not at all surprise me to learn that Ejiofor as Solomon, Nyong’o as Patsey, and Fassbinder as Epps have been nominated for Oscars. It would disappoint me if they are not nominated and if the film is not nominated for Best Picture. I do not believe I am overselling this film. It is that good as long as you have the constitution for it, as long as you can endure the harsh reality, mental and physical, of this part of American history. In “12 Years a Slave,” McQueen, several times throughout the film will stay on one shot for several seconds, sometimes even more than a minute or two. The purpose of this technique is for the audience to completely soak in what is being stated at that point in the film. It is a kind of way of the director telling us to “think about what you are seeing and let your mind come to grips with it.” It is not at all exploitive and the technique is not used to excess, however, when it is used, it is quite effective. I don’t know if it was the director’s intention, but there were times during the film that I was reminded of Werner Herzog’s technique of letting the audience, through the camera, be a bystander, someone watching from a distance, however, McQueen then, by staying on a shot for a long time, makes us more a part of a scene. Just as with another young director, Jeff Nichols (“Take Shelter,” “Mud”), Steve McQueen appears to be a director to watch for many years, one who, if form holds, will continue to make important, well-made films.

The entire cast of “12 Years a Slave” is outstanding, especially those performances already referenced. Brief appearances by Benedict Cumberbatch (“Sherlock,” “Star Trek Into Darkness”), Paul Giamatti (“Sideways,” “Win Win”), Alfre Woodard (“Grand Canyon,” “Star Trek: First Contact”), and co-producer, Brad Pitt, are very good. It’s always nice to see familiar faces in an excellent film. It is perfectly reasonable for me to think that the way I watch movies is uncommon and that the films I greatly enjoy are not ones enjoyed by a mass audience. I suppose it depends on how one defines “enjoy.” I take happiness from placing myself in a satisfying cinematic experience. If a film is well-written, well-acted, and manages to be unique in some way, even to the smallest degree, I have found enjoyment. “12 Years a Slave” fits those criteria, at least for me. If you are like-mined, I think you will enjoy this film as well.