12 Years a Slave: Movie Review

"12 Years a Slave" presents slavery in a different light. Yes, there is pain and suffering and unwarranted prosecution of Blacks. But what makes this something else is that it takes you to the possible psyche on the act of slavery - the White owners who try to justify their immoral actions through logical and illogical means and the Black salves who are forced to make extremely hard and harsh decisions own their own friends and families or death is the only other option. Brutally authentic, this is what defines and differentiates "12 Years a Slave".

It is 1842 and Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free man living in New York. He is a highly-skilled fiddle player which attracts two white men who offer him a high-paying two week job in Washington. But the two men trick Solomon by drugging him. Northup wakes to find himself in chains, sold to slavery and on his way to New Orleans and is renamed as Platt who is a runaway slave from Georgia. No one wants to acknowledge that he is actually a free man and soon, he must accept his unfortunate fate or else.

It is scary to think that men can do such harsh things to other men and "12 Years a Slave" is one those films that does not hold back when it comes to showing reality in the big screen. We found ourselves gasping as our protagonist Solomon Northup, and the other slaves whom he meets, endure so much just to survive. And if you thought things will be better, in some aspects it won't and in fact, it wants you to feel this is no fairy tale story because it isn't. The films wants to be authentic and it does come out shockingly and sadly authentic. With superb acting from Chiwetel Ejiofor, you feel every forced labor and every suffering. We also think that what makes "12 Years a Slave" stand out is that it also gave us a view on the mind of these slave owners and how they justify their willingness to conduct on such immoral grounds. It will make you think if all slave owners were bad or in fact, some would be victims of their own upbringing and environment. In the end, "12 Years a Slave" is a slow drama that will tug your heart and mind and soul.

Rating: 5 reels





Why you should watch it:
- very deep narrative that shows both sides of the coin
- superb acting from the cast especially Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- some of its elements seem out of place like Brad Pitt