12 Years A Slave

This is a film about almost unbearable hardship and suffering, but it's an essential watch, if not one I could probably bear to stomach a repeat viewing of. It is based on the true story of Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free African-American man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery in 1841, and the trials he endures when sold to sadistic plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).

The film has a powerful and obvious message about the cruelty and dehumanising effects of slavery. I would defy any decent person not to feel upset and angry about the horrors they have just witnessed when the credits roll. And although the cynic in me felt at the beginning that the film would be preaching to the converted, I ended it convinced that this was a movie that needed to be made, because unlike the racism-lite of countless Hollywood pictures (The Help immediately sprang to mind), 12 Years A Slave does not flinch away from the repugnant and brutal facts of the slave trade and life on the plantations for many black people prior to emancipation. It's the matter of fact manner that director Steve McQueen frames each shot and expertly films each scene that adds to the film's power: it doesn't tactfully look to one side, it forces us to examine the actions of the slave owners and their effects close-up, and is as compelling and fascinating as it is repulsive.

A large portion of the credit here should go to cinematographer Sean Bobbitt and McQueen, who showcases talent and skill not just as a director but as an artist with an innate sense of how to create mood and atmosphere with each and every shot; frame after frame always felt carefully chosen, perfectly paced, and beautifully and subtly shot. For make no mistake, 12 Years A Slave is a beautiful film in its own way; so many of the scenes looked like a painting by a rural landscape artist like John Constable (or there may be a more obvious artistic reference, Constable was the first one that sprang to my mind as I watched) - sunny, easy depictions of the sun glinting on to a vast cotton field, or laundry hanging between trees. But the difference is in the nasty detail McQueen constantly introduces into these idyllic-seeming pictures - an overseer drives suddenly and eerily though the fields with a whip; the rest of the folk on the plantation go about their business as Solomon hangs desperately from a tree. This invasion of brutality into beauty is handled superbly by McQueen; time and again you admire his breath-taking visuals and shot choices before the harsh reality of the plot drags you away from the sun-drenched, almost dream-like imagery.

Ejiofor plays Solomon with a quiet and unbreakable dignity; his horror and breakdown during the film's pivotal whipping scene is entirely convincing and heart-breaking in the manner that Ejiofor underplays it. The only grumble I have is that the film doesn't give us enough of an idea of Solomon's life and personality prior to his kidnapping - this is skimmed over within the first 15 minutes; at times, it did feel as though Solomon is just moved from one awful situation to another, with little time to explore the man beneath the surface or the nightmare he found himself trapped in. Fassbender is mesmerising as the sleazy, revolting Epps; Sarah Paulson equally good as his vile wife. A strong supporting cast including the always excellent (and perennially under-rated) Paul Dano and Alfre Woodard also put in commendable, well-crafted work.

However, it is newcomer Lupita Nyong'o as Patsey that provides the film with its haunting and memorable heart. Patsey is the unfortunate victim of unwanted attentions and cruel behaviours from both Epps and his vindictive wife. No mere symbol for the vast number of female slaves mistreated during this shameful period of American history, Nyong'o imbues Patsey with a captivating charm, dignity, alternatively despairing and hopeful but always a real person with a real hurt and sense of lasting pain behind her eyes. Remarkable all the more due to Nyong'o's limited on-screen dialogue, her performance deservedly won her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for that year.

Any thoughts I'd had that Hollywood had awarded 12 Years A Slave with the Best Film Oscar to pat itself on the back for rewarding something Terribly Important and Issues Driven and Oscar Baity were banished as I sat in stunned silence as the film finally reached a happy(ish) conclusion. Brilliantly shot, expertly directed, shocking, harrowing and with a weighty central message, this is a thoroughly deserving Oscar winner, although enduring its barbarism again may be more than I can bear.