DIRECTOR: Steve McQueen LEAD CAST: Chiwetel
Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti,
Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Alfre Woodard SCREENWRITER: John Ridley PRODUCER:
Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy
Kleiner, Bill Pohlad, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Anthony Katagas EDITOR: Joe Walker MUSICAL
DIRECTOR: Hans Zimmer GENRE: Drama, Special Interest
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sean Bobbitt DISTRIBUTOR: Fox Searchlight
Pictures (US), Entertainment (UK)
LOCATION: US, UK RUNNING TIME: 134 minutes
Technical assessment: 4
Moral assessment: 3
MTRCB rating: R 13
MTRCB rating: R 13
CINEMA rating: V 14
Based on the autobiography of Solomon Northup in
1853, 12 Years A Slave the movie
shows the suffering of black slaves sold to white masters in America. In 1841, Northup (Chewetel Ejiofor), a
well-educated violin player, leaves his wife Anne and two children in Saratoga,
New York, for a performance at a circus in Washington, D.C. that was supposed
to last two weeks. He is met by two
men who pay him, and then wine and dine him. He wakes up in shackles; he realizes he has been
drugged. He receives a beating and
is dumped into a paddleboat headed south.
It dawns upon him—he is now a slave, no more freedom, no more family, no
more dignity. And will remain one,
for 12 long years. The movie
portrays the subhuman existence of the slaves who are regarded as animals by
their white masters.
A
few critics note that director McQueen and screenwriter Ridley have taken
liberties in inserting episodes that are not in the book, but this should
hardly matter—the movie is essentially the same as the original autobio. McQueen chose the cast well in this
searing portrayal of a painful episode in American history. Backed by extensive research for a
historically accurate depiction, 12
years a slave also boasts of production sets showing attention to minute
details that effect an authentic looking setting, from costumes to colors used
in the plantations. Lupita Nyong’o
as Patsy certainly deserves her Best Supporting Actress Award, and leads the
other actors in engaging the viewer to gripping empathy. Cinematography captures the essence of
the film well, and dialect coach Michael Buster certainly did excellently in
altering the speech of the actors of various origins. For a movie with a $20-million
budget, 12 years a slave is able to etch
a name for itself in a moviedom brimming with superheroes and computer
generated heroism.
How
would people who are strangers to slavery—or even to realities of man’s cruelty
to man—react upon seeing this movie?
Those with queasy stomachs would probably close their eyes or turn away,
but even the blasé could cringe at the almost unbearable brutality done to
slaves here. Senior citizens who
have witnessed the tortures during war would be reminded by the scenes of
injustice and cruelty here, but naive audiences may honestly wonder if it is at
all possible for humans to treat fellow humans worse than animals. (Whatever,
for Filipinos this should be an introduction to the truth some of our overseas
workers experience in the hands of their masters abroad.) The saving grace of 12 years a slave remains to be the spirit of hope mirrored in the
attitudes of most of the slaves, particularly of Northup, subtly expressed in
the dialogue and the songs they sing: the human longing to be free, to be with
their families, to live in a just society, to be regarded as human beings. Caution should be applied when
explaining the treatment of Christianity in the movie, as the Christians
presented in the movie may not be the best examples there are.
