2013 was a hell of a year for film, with a number of movies (like "Her," "Gravity" and "Frozen") that I believe audiences will be watching decades from now. It was the first year where I felt compelled to see all the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' nominees for Best Picture - none of them were a dud nor were any the kind of 'worthy' but stodgy prestige pictures that the Academy too often settles on. "12 Years a Slave" went on to win that highest honor, and in a year in which it was first-among-equals, it thoroughly deserved it (as well as its awards for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress).
This is the first film I've seen by British Director Steve McQueen (who first rocketed to critical attention with "Hunger," his tale of the last days of an Irish Republican Army hunger-striker in the 1980's) and it makes me eager to see his two previous features and excited to see what he will do next. McQueen could so easily have taken the true story of Solomon Northrup, a free black man and professional violinist kidnapped into slavery in the deep South in 1841, and given it the full Oscar-bait polish and production value with score by John Williams and reassuring voice-over by its protagonist, reminding us constantly that no matter how bad things get, he will make it out in the end.
That McQueen refuses to make his story any more palatable for his audience and consistently avoids any of the props a lesser Director (even a very good one like Steven Spielberg) would use is part of what makes this such a great movie. What makes "12 Years" such a grippingly intense experience is that it feels like an authentic portrayal of slavery in all of its injustice, sadistic hypocrisy and institutionalized cruelty. McQueen and writer John Ridley consistently respect our intelligence knowing that they we don't need any sentimental adornment or stirring speeches to experience the true and all-too-human evil of slavery - we simply need to witness it.
DP Sean Bobbitt does a great job of portraying the beauty and horror of the enslaved South, with lyrical moments that remind us of Northrup's humanity and that of those around him, while using a matter-of-fact, almost documentary style, to capture the moments of violence and degradation, making them all the more shocking. It's horrifying seeing two young black men being lynched by a small group of white men, but it's even more shocking to see Northrup simply walking by, trying to conceal his terror and outrage, knowing that for the sake of his survival he has no other choice.
Hans Zimmer's score is also effectively restrained stylistically. The only moments I really noticed the film's score was during a couple of heightened moments of horrific tension and again, beautifully, in the film's occasional moments of grace, where Northrup is reminded of his humanity and when he is finally liberated.
Most important of all, though, is that McQueen's cast are uniformly excellent. Chiwetel Ejiofor is perfect as Solomon Northrup. Northrup is a kind and educated man shocked by the horror and injustice he witnesses and experiences, but utterly determined to survive and re-gain his life, even when the cost of that is suppressing that same kindness, education and his innate human empathy and decency.
Michael Fassbender is once again mind-blowingly skilled and versatile as Epps, a sadistic, alcoholic and paranoid slave-owner. Epps is absolutely terrifying because he is so believably human - he feels no moral qualms about whipping the skin off the back of Patsy, his 'favorite' slave, but later playfully carries his child by her on his back as he wanders about the plantation. Lupita N'yongo is heartbreaking as Patsy, who wants just as much as Northrup to survive, but is broken by rape, violence and the enduring cruelty of Epps' wife who resents Patsy as if her slave were choosing to be the object of Epps' vicious and exploitative 'attentions' towards her.
"12 Years a Slave" is not an easy film to watch, but it is one that I look forward coming back to because it is so well crafted, so rich creatively and such an excellent telling of a story that too many Americans would be only to happy to never hear in the first place - but need to.
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