Review: '12 Years a Slave'

20 years after Spielberg's masterpiece Schindler's List, director Steve McQueen hits it right on the head with one of the best chronicles of human suffering and triumph since then in 12 Years a Slave.

12 Years a Slave is based on the autobiographical book of the same name by Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Louisiana in 1841. This book, to my knowledge, is not used in schools to teach about slavery and before it was a movie, I did not know it was a book. 

The film is brutal. American movies rarely take a look at American slavery. Awards and accolades typically go to the films about the Holocaust (i.e. Schindler's List), and directors are afraid to go into this territory. Tarantino satirized slavery and its ills in last year's Django Unchained, which was nominated for a few awards. Spielberg tried to tackle the subject in Amistad. But no one has really taken a serious and realistic look at American slavery until now. Steve McQueen, ironically a British director, is the only filmmaker to effectively explore the subject of America's shameful past. The movie is very hard to watch, but the audience is left with a feeling of self-reflection and awe at the resilience of the main character.

Many critics have called the violence in the film too preachy and heavy-handed. Being from the South, slavery and what happened years ago are rarely talked about, especially among white people. It's just something we are ashamed of, at the end of the day, and much like German atrocities in World War II are for the German people today, it's not something we like to dwell on. I'll admit, as a white male, I get tired of heavy-handed "white guilt" movies. But this was different. It's told from the point of view of a slave, based on a firsthand account of a slave. It's not sugarcoated, as in Gone with the Wind, and it's not an overblown revenge fantasy, like Django Unchained. 

For all of its brutality, 12 Years a Slave is an extremely uplifting film. My favorite scenes involve music, and how music was key in the survival of these people. Solomon was a musician in his former life, a talented violinist. His talents are abused throughout the film, but we know how much music means to him, and when his violin breaks, so does his spirit. In the movie, African-American spirituals make up a large part of the soundtrack. As slaves pick cotton and bury their dead, music is what gets them through. 

Technically, the movie works brilliantly. Bob Nesbitt is the cinematographer, and he captures the beauty of Louisiana and juxtaposes it against the horror of life on the plantation. 12 years pass throughout the film, and McQueen conveys the passage of time through long nature shots, which are breathtaking. Unlike Schindler's List, which is shot in black-and-white and in very bleak settings, the locations in 12 Years a Slave are attractive. I think that is what makes this film so horrifying, that something so evil could happen in such an idyllic place. 

The performances are great, too. Lubita Nyong'o is particularly devastating as Patsey, who is the object of her married master's desire and his rage. For one scene alone, she should be considered for every Supporting Actress award this season. Michael Fassbender is terrifying, Paul Giamatti is devilish and Paul Dano is racism at its worst as their respective characters, who follow Solomon, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, through his episodic journey over twelve years. Benedict Cumberbatch plays a compassionate, yet cowardly slave owner and Brad Pitt is the only good-natured white man in the whole film. Sarah Paulson plays Fassbender's evil and jealous wife, who punishes Patsey for her husband's infidelity. There will be many acting nominations for this film, and they are all deserved. 

That being said, history tells us not all slaves were so brutally treated. That doesn't make it right, but the problem some critics have is that 12 Years a Slave is so relentless in its brutality, depicting only one aspect of slave life. I think it works, and McQueen, who is black, handles the material very tastefully.

My one complaint, in the end, is that the film doesn't exactly soar emotionally as it could. I could have used a little more payoff, a la The Color Purple. McQueen takes us to the bottom emotionally, but doesn't bring us all the way to the top at the end. 

12 Years a Slave is the definitive historical drama of this generation. You leave the theater knowing you have just seen a classic that will be celebrated for years to come. That's a rare thing these days.