12 Years a Slave (2013)
Certified: 15
Duration: 134 minutes
Directed by: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano, Adepero Oduye, Paul Giamatti, Garret Dillahunt, Scoot McNairy, Taran Killam, Chris Chalk, Michael K. Williams
KRS release
Set in 1841, 12 Years a Slave focuses on Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a black man who is free, educated, married with a wife and two children and lives in Saratoga, New York. He is a violinist and one day two men offer him a job to play the violin in their circus. But instead he is drugged and sold into slavery. He is informed that it is better to play at being ignorant and not reveal his real identity and thus he says his name is Platt.
Slaver Theophilus Freeman (Paul Giamatti) sells him to William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), a deeply religious Louisiana plantation owner. Solomon is treated as property but in a kind fashion.
However, head carpenter John Tibeats (Paul Dano) considers slaves as animals. This leads to Solomon being sold to cotton farmer Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) who drinks hard, is a womaniser and lusts after his slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o). This does not sit well with his wife Mary (Sarah Paulson). Meanwhile, Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt), who works as a hired hand, does not approve of the way slaves are treated by Epps.
Over the years Solomon will have to contend with a life of brutality while always thinking of a way to escape and regain his family and freedom.
Nominated for nine Academy Awards and winner of the best picture drama award at the Golden Globes, 12 Years a Slave is a veritable tour de force. It is an adaptation of the memoirs of Northup that date back to 1853 and that were validated in 1968.
After the superb, and also disturbing, pictures Hunger (2008) and Shame (2011), British director Steve McQueen delivers another harrowing film that will leave a mark on its audience. He has never been one to play it safe and this is very much in evidence here as he transforms punishment, subjugation and humiliation into a cinematic experience that is powerful in its every minute detail. The director is not afraid to risk but he is paid back well by a superb cast and a resulting tough yet artful and sensitive film.
The audience will most certainly end up sympathising with Solomon and share his pain and his confusion as he loses his way of life and is placed in a situation over which he has no control.
McQueen has designed an impeccable-looking film, with every frame emphasising the futility of Solomon’s situation and the unhinged madness the plantation owners live in.
The film also delves into the lives of those around the main character: the blacks full of fear and resignation, and some of the whites who are very disturbed. Dano’s vehemence leaps out of the screen.
Ejiofor delivers a powerful and riveting performance, Pitt delivers star power, Cumberbatch is wilful while Fassbender elicits disgust.
Propelled forward by a superb Hans Zimmer score, 12 Years a Slave is the work of a master craftsman who probes each painful lashing and makes us both wince and think at the same time.
Special screening
Euro Media Forum, the US Embassy in Malta and Eden Cinemas are presenting a special screening of 12 Years a Slave on Monday at 2.30pm at the Eden Cinemas.
The screening will be followed by a discussion, where US Embassy officer Bill Woityra will delve into the economic and social reasons why slavery was abolished in some US states and not in others.
The discussion will also tackle the film’s depiction of slavery. The audience is invited to participate through comments and questions.
For bookings, call Eden Cinemas on 2371 0400 or visit www.edencinemas.com.mt.