12 Years a Slave (2013)

Genre: Historical / Drama

Directed by: Steve McQueen

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’O, Sarah Paulson

Running time: 134 minutes

Based on the slave narrative memoirs of Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave tells the story of how a free African-American man living with his wife and kids in the New York area was enslaved for over a decade. Northup, who was making a living as a violinist, was invited to perform in Washington by two white men, who then drugged him and sold him to a slave pen. It would take 12 years of hardships before he would get his freedom back. Solomon Northup would then become an advocate for the abolition of slavery.

This film is not for the faint of heart. Some scenes can be hard to take, as the violence is very graphic and feels quite real. That being said, the subject matter demanded such realism. As it was long ago, we tend to forget about the atrocity that was slavery, but, at least, a movie like 12 Years a Slave did a great job shining a bright light on it.

All of the actors involved did a solid job here carrying their respective characters. The makers of 12 Years a Slave had a loaded cast to work with, with names such as Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti and Brad Pitt. In some cases, these actors had smaller roles. Fortunately, in all cases, the appearance of these well-known actors did not feel like cameos and they did not take away from the whole package.

12 Years a Slave is a film that has to be seen, at least once, if not more. I highly recommend it.

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