Review: 12 Years a Slave

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The picture above is a still frame from a shot in 12 Years a Slave that lasts at least a full minute. The camera remains fixed on Solomon Northup's (Chiwetel Ejiofor) face as he simply stares. This shot occurs late in the film so the audience has already witnessed a host of atrocities committed against Solomon. You half expect the camera to cut away to reveal some horrendous sight or the beginning to a new scene, but it does not. Such a long, lingering shot of his downcast face forces the audience to try and imagine what he is feeling. Solomon was kidnapped from freedom with his family in New York and forced into slavery to suffer at the hands of several, very cruel slave owners. What could he possibly be thinking and feeling, nearly 12 years later?

In the end, we really cannot know. I think director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) had this intention all along. He's mentioned in interviews how he wanted to make a realistic depiction of slavery and felt that Hollywood had not done a sufficient job up to this point. He came across the true story of Solomon, written by the man himself, and figured he'd finally found a story that would do justice to years and years of injustices against an entire race. It was a very ambitious plan, but McQueen's previous films more than demonstrate that he is an expert when it comes to directing highly emotional and intense content.

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With 12 Years a Slave, McQueen handles everything with the utmost control and patience. Fans of his previous films know that he knows exactly when to cut away, when to linger, and when to insert other tactics such as extreme closeups, long takes, and the like. But stylistically, the film never gets out of hand. McQueen draws all of our attention to what is being depicted and the story being told, and he skillfully implements the perfect techniques to do so. What's more, he and editor Joe Walker expertly handle the over 2 hour running time by not rushing things, but not letting the story drag and get weighed down too much by some of the harsher scenes. 

Unlike other slavery films such as Amistad which rely too heavily on melodrama and a constant stream of atrocities to keep the audience's attention, 12 Years leaves plenty of room for reflection. Whether it be inserting shots of the beautiful countryside in Louisiana or a particularly impacting long shot of Solomon joining in song during a funeral for a fellow slave, McQueen knows how to make the audience deal with silence and space much like white space on the page of a book. In this way, McQueen effectively demonstrates his amazing talent as a director in how the emotion and story of the film take over the viewing experience rather than the style catching our attention.

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As a result, I would say that Ejiofor is almost guaranteed to win best actor this year. His performance does not carry the thunder or intensity that many have come to expect from best actor winners in the past. That's not to say there aren't moments where Ejiofor expertly pulls off very emotional, physical situations, there are plenty. Rather, the power of his performance lies in shots like the one at the beginning. He is able to communicate so much through his facial expressions and body language alone, and I believe that is more challenging than communicating the same through dialogue.

Along with Ejiofor's performance, we also have the ever intense, awesome Michael Fassbender as the cruel slave owner Edwin Epps. Fassbender is absolutely evil and crazy in this. He said he wouldn't campaign for the Oscar this year, but I have no doubt that he'll get nominated for best supporting actor anyway, and I think he deserves to win because he almost steals the show at some points. New comer Lupita Nyong'o as Patsey is heart breaking and I wouldn't be surprised if she won best supporting actress as well. Over all, the cast, including brief appearances by Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, and others, is flawless.

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But to go back to the beginning, I think the power of 12 Years a Slave lies in not necessarily knowing what to do with what you just saw. I saw the film for the 2nd time, and analyzing Solomon's face in that one scene made me realize, I cannot comprehend slavery. I do not think we, as modern day Americans, can say or fully understand the huge impact slavery has had on this country ever since it ended 150 years ago, which isn't that long ago! My favorite comedian Louis CK says in one of his standups how we (white people) like to think it's been much longer than that, but in reality that's "two grandmas ago!" Literally, two 75-year-olds added together, and you're back to when it used to be legal to own a person. We can watch movies like 12 Years a Slave that do a fantastic job at communicating the emotional, physical, and psychological atrocities of slavery, but in the end, we can't know. That being said, McQueen's latest film is amazing and necessary viewing if only to make ourselves ask, what do we do now with what we just saw?