Directed by: Steve McQueen
Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt, Paul Dano
One day, Solomon Northrup was a free black man making a good living as a violinist in 1841 Saratoga, New York. He had a wife and two young children, all of which having never known what it is like to be a slave. After joining a circus for a lucrative two-week tour, Solomon is drugged by the promoters and wakes up in chains in a dark cell. His protests that he is a free man go unheard by his captors and he is sold to a slaveowner in New Orleans. His identity is stipped from him and he is now referred to as "Platt", a slave with no past and no future except to serve his masters.
Kidnappings like these were apparently common in the pre-Civil War United States. With slavery as part of the landscape, even free men like Solomon could have their freedom taken from them. 12 Years A Slave taps into a universal fear of losing freedom at the whims of others. Why was Solomon kidnapped and forced into slavery? Mostly because his captors could get away with it.
12 Years A Slave is based on Solomon Northrup's 1853 autobiography depicting his life as a slave after being abducted. He naively believes that his protests will somehow touch the hearts of those who see him as mere property. He plays a violin at a slave auction where he is chosen by Ford (Cumberbatch), as if such talents will get him better treatment. Master Ford, however, is delighted by his new slave's intelligence, especially when he leads a project which will allow Ford's boats to make their way through a murky swamp and reducing Ford's shipping costs. Ford admires his new slave, but not enough to grant him his freedom.
Solomon's fortunes change when he gets on the wrong side of a plantation foreman (Dano), who tries to hang him and is spared by Ford. Because Ford can't protect him from the vengeful Dano, he sells Solomon to Edwin Epps (Fassbender), a cruel master who quotes the bible as justification for his treatment of his property. Epps reminded me a lot of Commandant Goeth from Schindler's List, who like Epps was insane and treated his prisoners based on his arbitrary whims. Epps delivers savage whippings instead of killing his slaves, mostly because killing his workers will hurt him financially in the long run.
Solomon certainly dreams of escape, but knows that his chances of surviving as a runaway in the Deep South are non-existent. He attempts to keep himself strong mentally and physically, while "not giving in to despair." He befriends Patsey (Nyong'o) who is Epps' favorite not just because she picks nearly 500 pounds of cotton a day. Patsey draws the wrath of Epps' jealous wife (Paulson), who clearly sees her husband's attraction to his best worker.
12 Years A Slave feels authentic in its sense of time and place. It sees Solomon as a man who is trying courageously to deal with a situation no one could ever foresee happening. Ejiofor is a powerful screen presence, possessing intelligence and invoking sympathy for his plight. His naivete is his initial weakness, but perhaps his greatest strength. It allows him to believe that someone will come along one day and free him. That person comes in the form of Bass (Pitt), an abolitionist traveling the South who, despite danger, promises to deliver Solomon's story to his family and win his freedom.
The pity is that many other slaves had no such hope and were condemned to live and die as someone else's property. They gave up and accepted their destiny. That is what makes 12 Years A Slave so heartbreaking. It shows Solomon's deliverance from evil, but we see those like Patsey who can only watch as Solomon is taken away to freedom. 12 Years A Slave is sometimes brutal in its depictions, but even more brutal in its understanding of a slave's reality.
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