With an
upsurge in Hollywood focus, after the success of Django Unchained, it seems the darkest era in the land of the frees
past is finally being pulled from under the carpet to be given the recognition
it deserves. However, none so far have looked at the slave trade in a more
harrowing, revealing or Golden Globe-worthy style as Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave.
Adapted from the 19th-century memoir of
Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), the intense
drama follows the struggle of an educated family man, musician and carpenter as
he is abducted from New York in 1841, transported south and sold into slavery.
As common with African-Americans at the time, Solomon’s identity, humanity and
past is brutally beaten from him until he accepts the name ‘Platt’ and becomes
the property of Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), a sympathetic, yet chilling plantation
and slave owner. Through confrontations with sadistic, power crazed farmhand,
Tibeats (Paul Dano), Solomon is sold once again to the psychotic Epps (Michael
Fassbender) where further emotional and physical abuse create a masterpiece
that is brutal to watch.
12 Years a Slave is a triumph from everyone
involved in its production, with its biggest reward being the refreshment of
seeing a film created for the noblest of purposes. The film both educates, invigorates
and cultures its viewers with appalling realism over the most shameful and
dehumanised periods ever exhibited by a self-named intelligent and civilised
species.
Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the role of Solomon so
convincingly that it could possibly be the greatest of his lifetime. Subtle and
slow changes in his posture, twitches of the lip and prolonged, deep eye
contact with the camera; matched with his emotional chorus of ‘Roll Jordan,
roll’ create a character even the racist Nick Griffin should sympathise with.
Despite Ejiofor’s original reluctance to take the role, it’s hard to imagine
anyone else filling Solomon’s tortured boots so well.
Newcomer Lupita Nyong'o, who plays the slave girl Patsey,
also stands out amongst the more recognised names and is at times more
difficult to watch than Solomon. Capturing the attention of the unhinged
plantation owner Epps, Nyong’o portrays the barbarous objectification of black
women of the era with both strength and vulnerability as she is revered one
moment and raped the next.
Screenwriter
John Ridley also deserves huge recognition for his success. Each use of the
word ‘nigger’ re-humanises the audience with its true and vile meaning to
superb effect. It’s a shocking contrast to the resulting joke of its overuse in
Django Unchained and as care free
filler in today’s rap music. It becomes increasingly painful to hear,
especially after Paul Dano’s haunting rendition of ‘Run nigger,
run’. The defiant way Epps describes the slaves as his property and the cold
cruelty of even the female characters strikes hard and relentlessly, evoking
revulsion and understanding to a dismaying degree.
It is
McQueen’s style and direction that makes 12
Years a Slave a triumph. His use of fearlessly lengthy single-takes against
stunning backdrops makes us really see and feel what is happening. He makes a
whole audience cringe with shame and question why and how this ever became
wide-spread acceptable behaviour for so long. He doesn’t shy from brutal
torture of the body and we’re forced to acknowledge flesh being whipped from
bone. In one raw and particularly powerful scene, McQueen holds the shot of
Solomon being hung from a tree as fellow slaves around him meander on, for so
long I had to look away.
12 Years a Slave is a modern classic. It is
distressing to watch and rightfully so. With the exception of a diverting and
‘white saviour’ cameo from co-producer Brad Pitt, every aspect is beautifully
crafted, from its music, narrative and settings to its breath-taking actors. McQueen
has created a socially important look into our worlds past that will
undoubtedly succeed in this year’s Oscars.
