Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 14 mins
Director. Steve McQueen
Based on true events, 12 Years A Slave is an adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 19th-century memoirs of his abduction and illegal sale into slavery to Louisana plantation owners.
12 Years A Slave is an unflinching portrait of the oppression and horrors slaves were routinely subjected to at the time. The director, Steve McQueen doesn't shy away from graphically showing the effects of the relentless brutality on the body. In one scene, the camera circles one character to reveal the horrifying extent of a brutal whipping; in another scene, one character is left to hang from the bough of a tree. Gradually, the remainder of the plantation workers emerge from their accommodation and blithely go about their business in the background, hardened and immune to the scene in front of them. The camera never leaves hanging man and the length of shot is excruciatingly long - according to Director of Photography, Sean Bobbitt, "the idea was to make the audience feel what it's like to hang from a tree for a whole day."
Steve McQueen's unwavering treatment of the reality of slavery is a gruelling exercise aimed to exhaust and overwhelm the audience. The film's title may indicate the inextricable fate of Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), but McQueen and Ejiofor make it feel as if Northup's plight may last forever.
The painful truths addressed in 12 Years A Slave are, at times, an uncomfortable watch, but nonetheless remain a powerful and important watch. Unsurprisingly, 12 Years A Slave was awarded the 2014 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year.
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