"12 Years A Slave": The Movie

WOW! all I can say is that I haven't seen a film like this with so much power and emotion in decades. A must-see for serious film goers.

 

It's on my list of must sees.

 

Ditto

 

I hear it's a classic to be. Strange that it took a British director and lead actors from various parts of the EU and Kenya to tell a uniquely American story such as this.

 

I think a little cultural distance might make it easier to not feel impelled to soften the true story.

 

It is gut wrenching to watch...

 

Very well done. Really enjoyed Steve McQueen's Shame and this was better...

I can see Oscar time...

 

Random thoughts:

Wasn't until the lead was commanded to whip another member of the cast that I had to finally turn away.

During the first half of the film, it kept running through my mind, "I bet folks in the South are just HATING that this has come out now".

I know his involvement getting the film made, but when Brad Pitt finally shows up onscreen it really was almost like a surprise.

We have a black lady friend who always goes to the movies at the indie cinema with us nowadays. She bowed out this time, and I don't blame her a but.

By the end of the movie, was anybody else distracted by the soundtrack score? I kept thinking it was a note-for-note remake of something (something Nordic, I think...?) I'd seen at least a couple of times previously.




Now playing on Ariel Stream: Edgar Winter Group - Autumn

 

Could be his best film since Papillon.

 

I saw it over the weekend and it really is powerful. Chiwetel Ojiofor gives a very moving and layered performance, so much so that I wasn't paying attention to the acting and was wholly absorbed in his character. While the whole Oscar race is something I care very little about, I can see him getting a nod and being a front runner. This is a very, very brutal film, and since it's tied to character that unforgiving quality took an emotional toll on me, but I am reminded of what Leslie Halliwell once wrote about Bergman's Cries and Whispers: "Difficult but necessary viewing."

I watch at least a movie a week, sometimes two, at the cinema, and this is one of the best I've seen all year.

 

Why is that?

 

Because it's a reminder that an entire economy depended on its' people ignoring the obvious and subjugated an entire people to 2nd-Class citizenry.
It draws the line quite clearly between respecting human rights, and the exceptionalism of the privileged few - something that, shall we say, has
parallels in recent discussion. To bring this to the light now with a film so emotionally-charged, and just begging for connections being made to
current, er, discussion, those people primarily from the South who are still fighting that war in their heads in light of, um, recent events, can only
make their case flimsy, embarrassing and downright distasteful.

Raise your hands - how many of you in your basic, undergraduate schooling, ever encountered the book? I remember several times being schooled
on Uncle Tom's Cabin, and of course D.W.Griffith's Intolerance in film studies...but somehow or other this book, which is much more
empathetic and desires to be a tool of social change...appears to have been disappeared down the "Memory Hole". And now, here it is, demanding
once again to be considered.

So, if you're a descendant of people who owned a nice white mansion on a farm, with separate-but-unequal quarters for its' labor force, and find
yourself still in a comfortable position generations removed from those events, but you've told yourself your whole life that you've gotten by from
pulling yourself up by your own shiny bootstraps, and now all the world is talking about this film, and now everybody around you's looking at you
and your trust-fund-lifestyle differently...yeah, that's gotta sting a bit.




Now playing on Ariel Stream: KT Tunstall - Heal Over

 

So the entire south should hate that this film is out now? Have you driven through most of the south lately? I'd be willing to bet there are more trust-funders in the northeast than down here. I don't know what recent events you are referring to, I'm not aware that anything related to the slavery of the past is being talked about in any context today, other than what appears to be a great film about the subject.

As a fan of history and great movies about history I can't wait to see this film. I do think it's important to know our nation's history in order to avoid repeating the negative aspects of it, but I don't think anyone alive currently shares any of the blame for our forefathers transgressions and certainly if people want to start going down the road of "follow the money" there are plenty of families and institutions north of the Mason-Dixon line that would be drawn into those discussions as well.

 

probably the most important movie ever made!

 

Man, whatever you're on, I'd like some too!

 

what's the problem, dude?

 

My history class may go see it, provided enough people can make it. Otherwise, I'll see it myself. It seems really worthwhile.

 

It's understandable that a Canadian would not share your sense of this film's importance. I don't believe that Canada has a legacy of slavery.

 

Not sure what would make "12 Years" more important than "Roots". The latter greatly impacted society and was a real eye-opener.

And I think it's vastly superior to "12 Years", honestly...

 

You are correct sir about the latter, but all one needs to be is a film fan to look askance at such a wildly over the top claim. I mean, the film is good but I wouldn't call it a particularly exceptional piece of filmmaking, let alone potentially the Most Important Film Of All Time - whatever, indeed, that might mean given the scope of over 100 years of cinema.

 

If "12 Years" exposed long-hidden truths, then maybe I'd understand claims of its importance. But what did it teach us, that slavery was horrible and degrading and violent?

Is there anyone over the age of 12 who didn't already know that?

I think the movie's brutality is its calling card but also its biggest flaw - it's so relentlessly brutal that I think the violence starts to lose its impact. It reminds me a lot of "Passion of the Christ", honestly, in that its violence becomes its "everything". "12 years" is 2+ hours of brutality with too little narrative/character movement along the way...

 

OK, let's leave it at that my friend.

 

Funny you should mention that, as The Passion of The Christ is exactly the comparison I had in mind.

One point in the film's favour though is that, unlike The Butler, aside from ramping up Solomon Northrup's genteel respectability it's fairly true to the book as written. Like, I thought the behaviour of Edwin Epps and his wife seemed exaggerated to make them real stock evil caricatures - but apparently that's how they were, real nasty pieces of work. Here's an interesting overview of where the movie follows and deviates from the book:

http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/12-years-a-slave.php

 

Oh, yeah, I believe that. I don't question the accuracy or validity of the movie at all - I just think it lacks the character investment it needs to be great. Solomon is something of a cipher - he really doesn't seem to do much or have much personality. The Patsey character has a much bigger arc, which makes Solomon's lack of development even more prominent.

And I gotta admit all the cameos distracted me - they took me out of the movie.

To be fair, I already touted "Roots" as a vastly superior - and more important - project, and one could argue it offers potentially distracting casting choices. However, I'd argue those make sense for the movie: "Roots" used beloved TV personalities like Lorne Greene and Robert Reed in roles that were severely against type, which made them more effective.

When I see Paul Giamatti play a slave-trader, I don't get a sense of him playing against type, but to see warm 'n' fuzzy actors like Reed and Greene as horrible people adds a layer of menace to the proceedings. They make us challenge the notion that only "bad people" had racist beliefs/traits, as we find actors we accept as "good people"...

 

I thought the score by Hans Zimmer was exceptional. Added just the right dose of danger, dread. There were moments when this film approached Terrence Mallick territory.
I'd be afraid to see Roots again after all these years. Does it hold up?