Hello Write Readers,
The year 2013 seems to be the year about race films. When I saw the trailer for this movie, I couldn’t help but wonder, “what’s happening in Hollywood?” Everywhere you turn, there are poignant and deeply relevant conversations going on about the history of race in this country. Some of the films are great, some are not, but I applaud America for delving in and recalling its history.
Twelve Years A Slave is a remarkable, overwhelmingly painful and wonderful film that shares with the world the true story of Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free man living in upstate New York before the Civil War, who is abducted and sold into slavery. This story was originally a book; one of the most valuable slave narratives we have access to, mostly (historians tell us) because of Solomon’s ability to compare life between a slave and a free man. Steve McQueen, the director, did a phenomenal job of telling this heart rending story about what freedom means to a man who has lost it. I’m not the only one who thought the film was wonderful – Twelve Years… was nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
It’s difficult to say anything else, really, because all of the parts of the film were so well done. Singling out any person or moment is hard, but I’ll do my best. The story of Solomon Northup itself is quite extraordinary (and who can be congratulated for that?)- he was abducted when traveling in Washington D.C. by men who tricked him and promised him work as a violinist for a traveling show. Chiwetel Ejiofor was absolutely brilliant as Northup, and although this sounds silly, there were moments when I forgot that he was telling someone else’s story, so deeply immersed in the telling he was. There were so many grand moments that it’s difficult again to choose just a few, but I found the hardest part of the film to watch the beginning of Solomon’s journey as a slave, where he violently discovers that it’s safer to say nothing than to proclaim the truth. Watching the stripping of human dignity at a slave auction was horrifying. Watching the kindness of a “good master” was heartening, and watching the villainous acts of a bad master was a nightmare. And then, to see Solomon returned home to his family after a twelve-year absence, to be greeted by his daughter’s husband and baby…there are no words. And through it all, Chiwetel Ejiofor took this terrible story and brought it to life. His committment to the performance was palpable, and breathtaking.
Although Chiwetel Ejiofor deserves all of the praise for bringing this movie to life, there are a few faces that made the film as realistic and thus, important, as it was. Michael Fassbender, who you may remember (or let’s be real, who I remember) from X-Men: First Class, played the cruel slaveowner Edwin Epps, who owned Solomon Northup for a number of years. Fassbender is to be applauded for his accurate, honest, and terrifying portrayal of a southern plantation owner who abuses his slaves abominably and believes his is the life of a bible-fearing Christian. He is especially horrible to Eliza, a female slave who works his plantation. He lords her above the other slaves on the plantation by day, and sexually abuses her by night. While I haven’t seen Fassbender in many films, I was struck by how completely psychotic he managed to be. He was devoted in his faith, and yet truly believed his actions to be not only in the right, but upheld by God. He attacked Northup for some inane reason, and chased him around the yard like a crazy man. He lashed out violently, he terrorized the entire plantation…had I not seen him in at least one other film, I sincerely would have thought Fassbender was not in possession of his wits.
The Best Supporting Actress nominee Lupita Nyong’o also deserves high praise for making this film a reality. Nyong’o played Eliza, the slave that Edwin Epps spent his free time sexually, physically, and mentally abusing. Nyong’o was breathtaking. There’s nothing else that needs to be said; nothing I could say that would further validate her already superb work. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, every single time she was on-screen. Nyong’o was brave, and beautiful, and broken, and I can’t imagine inhabiting that character on stage or screen for even five minutes. There is a moment during 12 Years… when Eliza begs Northup to do what she doesn’t have the courage to do herself, and kill her. When I saw it, I felt there was nothing I couldn’t watch Lupita Nyong’o in. She was desperate, and shining and glorious. I sincerely hope she takes home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anyone earn that the way Nyong’o did.
12 Years A Slave, overall, felt incredibly real. It was well made, and was one of those films (much like last year’s Lincoln) that kept me on the edge of my seat, dying to know what would happen next, even though I knew the story of Solomon Northup before the lights dimmed in the theatre. I felt as though I were living the story with each of the characters, that I was there, seeing everything happen as it must have happened years ago. I realize it’s silly to talk about realism when all of the other nominated films live in a realistic world. Every actor who has been nominated was attempting to realistically portray their role, and most if not all of them did so quite well. But I really feel these types of films (as we saw with Django Unchained) are so easily made false. One poor acting choice, one off lighting adjustment, and suddenly the film is swirling down the drain, and becomes another laughable attempt at a history lesson (Roots, anyone?). It would have been easy to go too far, to get just a little bit too dramatic, or hysterical; this movie could have become comical. Unlike many other historical dramas,12 Years A Slave is a film I wouldn’t hesitate to show in a classroom. Teachers know the fear of showing a poorly made film of an important moment, and hearing student laughter at the absurdity on the screen, absurdity that then makes a mockery of the subject matter. Fear not, my fellow educators. There is nothing to be artistically ashamed of in 12 Years A Slave, and I deeply hope that the lack of shame to be found in the quality of the artistic work will allow the true shame to rest where it belongs, on each and every one of us at how our ancestors treated their fellow human beings. I don’t desire that any person walk through life feeling the guilt of others, but I do hope that the collective shame that America feels will bring us empathy, and with that empathy we will learn from the horrors of the past and create a better future (I’m looking at you, Arizona).
All in all, I think it’s safe to say 12 Years A Slave will take home the prize for Best Picture, although there are certainly other films that were well made. This film, I think, has to win, based on the subject matter. It’s difficult to allow a well-made slave movie to go un-won; it tends to make the Academy look insensitive. But 12 Years A Slave also deserves to win because it’s a beautifully made movie, and because each actor in the film earned their nominations over and over again. If you haven’t seen it, make sure you don’t miss it, because it is wonderful, and should be required viewing for the entire nation.
Live, Love, Learn,