Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave

 12 Years a Slave, based on 1853 autobiography book written by Solomon Northup himself, a New York born free African American who was kidnapped in 1841, sold into slavery, received harsh treatments when working on plantations for 12 years before his release. The film painfully displayed the cruel and evil nature of humanity, performing hideous acts of racism to others...where people are treated as mere properties, not human beings.The hanging, raping, beating and whipping of the black slaves are heart-wrenching at times to watch.

More specifically, the abuse and torture Patsey received are brutal and inhumane when she's done nothing wrong at all. It makes you constantly wonder what wrong they had done to deserve such brutal treatment from others...just because of different skin colour? It's actually despicable for the people to even dare to speak about God when they do sinful acts of cruelty themselves on others.Furthermore, the film also shows that not just white men at that time and age were evil, but the black slaves as well. They just choose to ignore the pain and sufferings of their fellow for fearing that they may receive a harsher punishment.

Chiwetel Ejiofor managed to deliver a convincing performance, successfully conveying his emotions during the sufferings.I find myself nearly in tears when he is finally returned to his family and he said sorry to his wife in tears.Other supporting actors (Paul Dano, John and particularly Fassbender, Epps) did a great job in making the audience hate them so much to the point we actually cheer Solomon as he hit Paul's character back with the whip and Solomon is finally free from Epps when Mr.Parker arrived to rescue him.

The downside of the movie is the lack of a great score to make the emotional scenes pack a punch. Although Hans Zimmer is hired as the composer, but it seems that he just reuse Inception's main theme for the film. As a result, it does hurts the film a little.

Overall, 12 Years a Slave is a powerful drama that shows the brutal practise of slavery in America of the past. It reminds us about men's cruelty to its own kind.

Rating: 8.5/10

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” 
― William Wilberforce

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God cannot retain it.” 
― Abraham Lincoln