12 Years a Slave. Rated MA15+ (strong themes and violence). 134 minutes. Directed by Steve McQueen. Screenplay by John Ridley. Based on the memoir by Solomon Northup.
Verdict: A perfect film about a far from perfect world.
It’s rare that a film manages to transport you into the heart of another time and place so completely – to the point where when you emerge from the cinema, everything around you feels strangely unfamiliar.
McQueen’s (Hunger, Shame) and Ridley’s forensic examination of the psychological and physical horrors of slavery is an intensely gruelling experience, with an extreme level of anxiety constantly powering the saga. Even though it is beautifully framed and photographed by McQueen’s frequent collaborator, cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, the perfect lighting in every shot makes the horror of what is happening in the story even more challenging to watch.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men, Salt) is excellent as freeman Solomon Northup who is kidnapped, shipped to New Orleans and sold into slavery. Separated from his wife and two children, Solomon is passed from plantation owner William Ford (a conscious-stricken Benedict Cumberbatch) to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender, on fire), where the torment inflicted on Solomon and his fellow slaves reaches an almost unwatchable zenith.
As the young female slave Patsey, Lupita Nyong'o (making her debut) is astonishing, delivering an unforgettable performance of such extraordinary depth that it defies comprehension. In what should have been an un-actable scene where Patsey begs Solomon to end her tormented existence by killing her, you may well find yourself hoping he obliges.
12 Years a Slave is a difficult film to experience. The film-makers waste no time plunging us into a world in which a noble, talented man finds himself not only powerless, but with no visible means of escape from a nightmare of someone else’s making. My lasting memory, days later, is of a beautiful world devouring itself from the inside out.
This review was commissioned by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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