12 Years a Slave

His last film was the NC-17 rated Shame. Now, director Steve McQueen adapts Solomon Northup's autobiography 12 Years a Slave. 

In 1841, Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a Freeman musician living in New York with his family. Two "upstanding gentlemen" offer him a job out of state which he accepts. The offer is a complete and utter scam; it's just a pretense to get Solomon sold into a lifetime of slavery.

Now named "Platt," Solomon is first sold to the kindly William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch). He's then sold to the evil Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), where most of his 12 years are spent. One slave in particular, Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o), is the target of Mr. Epps's lust and Mrs. Epps's (Sarah Paulson) wrath. In spite of these injustices, Solomon tries to find the one chance to get himself to salvation.

The film succeeds because of Ejiofor's performance. In his first few minutes on-screen, Solomon is introduced as a likable, caring husband and father. He earns the audience's trust right away so they can feel righteous anger at his situation. And although others may consider him a pushover for accepting this cruelty, he's really a strong-willed man. His final freedom is beyond satisfactory; it is exhilarating.

Editor Joe Walker and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt emphasize the cruelty of Slavery with their contributions. They do this often with uninterrupted takes of slaves being subjected to cruelty. The makeup department headed by Ma Kalaadevi Ananda creates the unsettling results of these acts. The end result helps the audience hate the villains straightaway; it helps that they are portrayed by excellent actors.

12 Years a Slave is not an easy film to sit through. But it's still a great film about perseverance in the face of cruelty. It has earned its status as an Oscar front-runner for this reason.