2013 has slowly shaped up to be the year of the "Civil Rights" film with such works as "Fruitvale Station" and "Lee Daniel's The Butler" gracing screens around the world. However, undoubtedly the greatest and biggest of the pack is Steve McQueen's hotly anticipated "12 Years a Slave."
The film is based on the true life story of Solomon Northup, a free man living in New York who gets kidnapped and sold back into slavery. The film chronicles his life with two radically different masters and his quest to survive.
There is no need to hide behind the fact that "12 Years a Slave" is undoubtedly the greatest film McQueen has made thus far and one of the best of the decade. As the film opens, the viewer is introduced to Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), or "Platt" as he is referred to by slave owners, in his condition as a slave. The sequence cuts quickly through his life on the plantation with dissolves creating an almost surreal quality. It is almost a dream-like state that makes the viewer question whether what is on-screen is actually happening; McQueen is almost engaging the audience right away and asking them to question how humans could ever be forced to endure such a condition. In one particular moment during that sequence, Northup stares at a plate of food and watches the juice from the berry slide along the dish like blood spreading about.
Moments after this sequence has ended, the film flashes back a few years to Northup's life with his wife and children. His wife heads out with the kids for work and he is introduced to a couple of men in show business who are looking to hire him for their tour (he is an accomplished violinist). However, it all turns out to be false and Northup is promptly sold back into slavery. First he is purchased by the "dignified" William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), but difficulties with one of his workers (Paul Dano) forces Ford to sell Northup to the monstrous Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender). Through his journey, Northup is forced to hide his identity in hopes of surviving the horrors of slavery.
Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" featured some truly cruel moments that drove home the hideous nature of slavery; one such sequence featured two slaves fighting to the death for sport. However, Tarantino's violence (which is purposely over-the-top) comes off as a cartoonish when compared with the brutal and raw nature of McQueen's depictions. In one particular sequence, Northup is hung from a tree. He is low enough to the ground that he can maintain his balance by stepping on his toes, but with his hands tied it is impossible for him to find proper footing and balance. McQueen and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt frame his struggle in a wide shot that encapsulates the entire scene; Northup's body is completely immobile with only his feet moving constantly to keep him alive. Around him, the viewer watches other slaves walk by, only glancing occasionally at the struggling man; in this moment, McQueen forces the audience to participate in the behavior of not only the other slaves, but the plantation workers and even the mistress of the house. The viewer is essentially an accomplice to the horrific act unfolding, but is powerless to change what is happening onscreen. To drive the point home further, McQueen extends the shot for what seems like an eternity and it becomes increasingly difficult to watch; some viewers in the New York Film Festival press screening put their hands over their eyes from the unbearable torment portrayed onscreen. McQueen eventually cuts to another shot in which another slave gives Northup water, creating momentary relief for the audience. However, the moment she leaves the film cuts to another wide shot and extends the scene further with different angles framing Northup's torment from other people's perspective.
Another torture scene late in the film is shot as an extended take with the camera roaming around and switching perspective between characters; during that sequence, McQueen forces the spectator into the world and pushes him/her around to analyze the differing points of view of each character as they each become involved in the act. The first torture scene in the film is shot from a low angle close to Northup's face on the ground; his face is actually buried in the lower right corner of the frame while his assailant dominates the center. The camera remains fixed throughout this sequence with the lashes dominating the center of the frame. This shot also goes on for an extended period with the intensity being ramped up as the beating is extended.
These kinds of images will undoubtedly prove difficult for a number of viewers, mainly because of how McQueen and Bobbitt force the viewer to become a participant in the cruelty. However, the film balances these moments with powerful breath-taking images of insight. As a group of slaves engages in the singing of a spiritual, the camera focuses on Northup in a tight close-up. The restrictive angle reflects his broken, imprisoned and hopeless state of mind, but it also enables the observer to slowly engage on a internal emotional journey as he finds himself giving in to the communal rapture around him. Ejiofor's performance in this particular scene is breathtaking as it manages to lift up the character's spirit and his increasingly involved singing emphasizes his powerful battle to survive. One of the most talked about images in the film is another tight close-up on Northup in which he looks out into the horizon, almost wondering what will happen to him. Suddenly and briefly he glances directly into the camera, breaking the fourth wall and almost asking the audience members if they can help him. Once again McQueen forces the voyeur to become a powerless bystander that despite his/her best intentions can do nothing for Northup or the other slaves of his generation and time period.
Ejiofor is brilliant throughout the film. His Northup is full of resiliency and battles constantly to maintain his composure. However, his eyes increasingly betray his tumultuous state and the final scenes are among the most powerfully played in the entire film. Lupita Nyong'o gives a heart-wrenching portrayal as Patsey, the slave that has become the object of obsession for Epps. Her character's muted presence early on creates an aura of innocence but it takes on a completely different meaning as the film wears on; the character becomes increasingly frail. Patsey winds up representing the silence and pain endured by a number of slaves of the era; the slaves that never had a chance to save themselves.
Fassbender is potent as Epps and while audiences will surely despise the ticking time bomb, McQueen and the thespian manage to make Epps a full-fleshed creation. He is not merely a ruthless barbarian, but a man whose own feelings toward Patsey betray his narrow-minded point-of-view. As the film develops and these two opposing forces lock into battle within his mind, the character loses control and composure and slowly becomes the animal that he so scorns. The remainder of the cast does solid work in overall brief appearances; Sarah Paulson stands out as the jealous and vengeful Mary Epps, a character that audience members will universally hate.
Hans Zimmer's score is absolutely brilliant in its wide ranging variety. At times it evokes the time period and in some moments, synthesized tones pierce into the atmosphere to create more chaos and disorientation. The modern sounds are almost a direct confrontation of the viewer in the modern world and serve as a reminder from McQueen that this is not simply a piece of escapist entertainment but a perpetual dialogue that requires constant involvement.
"12 Years a Slave" has been getting a tremendous amount of Oscar buzz as the front-runner of the Best Picture race. While this would undoubtedly be well-deserved, the film has already achieved a more important victory that few other works in cinema history have ever achieved. McQueen's brutal masterwork has not only given audiences a chance to witness the crimes against humanity; he is one of the few to turn the spectators into participants as well. This is an experience that will surely leave a mark, both painful and hopeful, for every viewer that embarks on its powerful journey.
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