A Most Extraordinary Experience in the History of Cinema

12 Years a Slave is a film everyone old and mature enough should be encouraged to see (the film carries a 15 certificate which given certain scenes might be lightweight). Monday night’s preview screening by kind courtesy of Times+ was full to capacity and from start to finish the audience was captured and watched and listened in complete silence. That was testimony enough to suggest they were witnessing something extraordinary in the history of cinema.

To cover 12 years of slavery in 133 minutes seemed an impossible task but Steve McQueen’s film achieved this comfortably, or should that be uncomfortably as his account pulls no punches. As the story goes, once upon a time there was a family of four living peacefully in Saratoga Springs.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

It seemed to be almost the perfect life until one day their circumstances changed that resulted in the father, Solomon Northup (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) being separated from his family and that separation was to become one of the worst nightmares imaginable to any human being. Although Northup was a free black man he was sold into slavery. Comparatively well-educated Northup nonetheless had a certain naivety which ultimately proved his Achilles heel. He was taken with other captives and sold in New Orleans to be held as a slave in Louisiana under several different owners. From then on he was to be known as Platt, thus denying his true identity.

Photo – Jaap Buitendijk

Northup was bought initially by William Ford (Dominic Cumberbatch). Ford was a slave master who showed more compassion and consideration for his slaves than most other masters but still took the hard line through his overseers. As the days wore on a bond of sorts developed between Ford and Northup in recognition of the assistance Northup was able to give that his overseers and other hired helps were unable to deliver.

Photo – Jaap Buitendijk

That bond wasn’t destined to last as Northup and others were moved to work for John Tibeats (played by Paul Dano) who didn’t share the same virtues and found Northup too much of a threat to his authority.

Photo – Jaap Buitendijk

Tibeats took Northup back to Ford’s where there was more construction work to be done. It was here that Northup suffered cruel and abusive treatment and was subjected to a whipping. Northup resisted and reacted. That reaction was to bring him close to death at the hands of Tibeats only to be saved by Ford’s overseer. For his own safety Northup was sold on to Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), although Epps was recognised as a ruthless sadistic Master and it appeared to be a case of out of the frying pan into the fire.

Epps ran a cotton plantation sharing the matrimonial home with his wife Mistress Epps (Sarah Paulson). Northup remained held by Epps for the best part of 10 years. Epps was a cruel master, who often punished the slaves if they failed to meet targets he had set for them. There was one slave Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) who always outstripped them all.  

Photo – Francois Duhamel

She was sexually abused on a regular basis by Epps which left her at one stage on the point of suicide. On occasions Northup had to defend Patsey from the jealous and ever demanding Master. This led to a close relationship being formed that was to be severely tested later.  

There were however some brief moments of respite where she could attempt to rekindle her innocence and youth.

Photo – Jaap Buitendijk

An itinerant carpenter Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt) joined the workforce as an employee of Epps. He had strong anti-slavery views and struck up a relationship with Northup which led to Northup’s eventual release. Who else but Brad Pitt could take the hero role in delivering Northup to freedom especially as he was one of the film’s producers.

John Ridley’s script is by-and-large true to Northup’s account and gives it authenticity. Steve McQueen’s direction was taut, hard hitting but sympathetic at times to a subject matter that would be alien to many and the soundtrack matched the mood in every respect.

 There were several excellent performances. Ejiofor was a triumph as Northup portraying so many different emotions that you believed he was reality itself – a potential Oscar winning performance. Nyong’o was equally superb as Patsey fighting against the tide of sadism and sexual torture and Fassbender was convincing as the evil-hearted control freak Epps.

All together the film provided one of the most extraordinary experiences in cinema and it provided a stark reminder for modern times.

The film itself is not overburdened by patronising messages but it is worth considering what Northup had concluded

                                                               Illustration from 12 Years a Slave

‘It is not the fault of the slaveholder that he is cruel, so much as it is the fault of the system under which he lives’.

How much of that remains true today wherever you are in the world?