12 YEARS A SLAVE - Review by Philip Josse

12 Years a Slave is a 2013 film adapted by Steve McQueen from the memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Northup, with the supporting cast being filled out by Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson and Brad Pitt. The film is a fairly faithful adaptation of Northup's novel, and was largely filmed in Louisiana, the film was mainly produced independently, by Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment.

The film succeeds in large part due to it's performances, the main cast presents some pretty fantastic performances, and thus the film is heartfelt, powerful and strong. Ejiofor's performance as Solomon Northup is particularly strong, and he manages to successfully play a man who is strong, but beaten down, who has morals but who feels conflicted, and who is desperately mourning the loss of his children and wife, despite not being able to show it.

The other star of this film is Lupita Nyong'o, whoose performance as Patsey is particularly strong. Patsey is a woman who is very childlike in the way she behaves, yet in the hand of Nyong'o she becomes three dimensional and real, and becomes a character we truly care about. Also fantastic is Sarah Paulson, who is menacing and vicious as the plantation owners wife, and who brings a gravitas to the role.

The other main success of this film is that it provides characters who are complex and detailed, but who we really manage to care about, this provides an immense emotional weight to the piece, and allows us to attach to the piece emotionally, this provides a true gravitas to the film, the storytelling of the film is fantastic, and there is a refreshing lack of voice over, a sadly overused concept in most modern films. Despite all these positives, i felt a little underwhelmed by 12 Years A Slave, this film was so hyped and was apparently so good that i left feeling a bit off, and i couldn't help feeling that despite being technically strong, the film was never engrossing, and i didn't leave wondering anything more about the characters. The problem is that McQueen keeps us a little bit distant from the characters in the film, and despite being emotionally invested, our investment ends at the conclusion of the film.

Overall, 12 Years A Slave, despite not being a perfect film, is a strong piece of work and succeeds largely due to its highly talented cast, its great script and beautiful photography, it's only failures are in it's distant quality and the underwhelming nature of the film. I was impressed by the film on an isolated level, but it is unfortunate that it was so over-hyped, this is the film version of a Lady Gaga album. However 12 Years A Slave remains an important film highlighting the west's sickening history with slavery. Rating: A-

Solomon Northup: I will not fall into despair till freedom is opportune!