Saturday, March 29, 2014

12 Years a Slave

Caution: This Might Contain Spoilers!
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This film is based off the 1853 memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, written by Solomon Northup. Solomon Northup, a skiller carpenter and fiddle player, finds himself a captive slave in the antebellum part of the United States. Having is identity mistaken for a man named Platt, Northup is forced to endure harsh abuse in the hopes of finding his way back to his family.

This film was directed by Steve McQueen. Naturally, this film is purely looked at as a slave film, and the emotions entangled with that moment in history remain. Some believe that this film conveys white guilt above all else. The historical elements have been questioned in both the original memoir and in the film's retelling. It is believed that there is some dramatization added to give more empathy to the story. However, the story does depict an actual truth to the abuse done to slaves during that era. This film also gives a negative depiction of Christianity in that era, because it gave reason to this abuse. Unfortunately, since the film is focused on the survival of a single man it does not fully show the continued suffering of others. It does present an image of the complicated relationships during that time. This film also shows the suffering of African American slave women. Since this present the true acts of slavery and its failures, the film is very hard for people to re-watch a second time. A lot of the emotion remains hidden within the eyes, because it was the only way a slave could express his true emotions without getting into trouble. Chiwetel Ejiofor played the role of Solomon Northup. He was great in this leading role. He created a highly sympathetic character that audiences could root for. Lupita Nyong'o played the role of Patsy. She was great supporting Ejiofor, and creating the harsh emotions for the film. Adepero Oduye played the role of Eliza. She was good in her limited role.

I give this film 5 out of 5 stars! This is a great dramatical film depicting slavery in the South. The great acting gives this film its true power.

Answer to last blog: Actor Josh Brolin, Oldboy, played the role of George W. Bush for the film W.

Que: What other film did actor Chiwetel Ejiofor star in?

Inglorious Bastards
X-Men: Origins: Wolverine
He's Just Not That Into You
2012

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