Having picked up three Academy Awards at the 2013 Oscars, the 12 Years A Slave DVD was always going to be a big release and for anyone that missed the movie at the cinema, it easily lives up to the critical reception it’s received. In terms of our review, the sum of it all is that it’s not an easy film to watch, with a fair few harrowing scenes and pretty hefty subject matter, but the reality is that everyone should watch it at least once.
It’s not just the fact that it acts as a tragic reminder of what slavery actually meant for the lives of the people caught up in it that makes it such an important film to watch. It’s also the fact that it’s been crafted to perfection by director Steve McQueen (Shame), has an excellent screenplay behind it, penned by John Ridley and is based on the original true story of Solomon Northup’s 1853 Twelve Years a Slave memoir and slave narrative.
It contains some of the best acting in a movie we’ve ever seen thanks to Chiwetel Ejiofor (Marching Powder film), Michael Fassbender (X-Men Days of Future Past), Lupita Nyong’o (Star Wars Episode VII), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug), Brad Pitt (World War Z) and Paul Giamatti.
Released on DVD, Blu-ray and digital download on the 12th May 2014, the story is that of a free African American man, named Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), who is kidnapped and taken from his family and happy life in New York state and sold into slavery in the deep south. His protestations of freedom only return him vicious beatings and a reiteration that his name is now Pratt, the name of a runaway slave from Georgia, which his captors give him to help legitimise their claim.
Things go from bad to worse as he’s sold by slave driver, Theophilus Freeman (Giamatti), to land-owner, William Ford (Cumberbatch) and it becomes clear to him that there’s point in fighting back. Trouble seems to prey upon him, especially when he finds himself sold into the brutal care of cotton plantation owner, Samuel Epps (Fassbender), who believes his rights over his slaves are written in the bible.
Produced by Brad Pitt’s studio, Plan B, along with Summit Entertainment, Regency Enterprises, River Road Entertainment and Film4, 12 Years A Slave is a genuine credit to everyone involved in the creation of the film. The harrowing force of the storyline and delivery might not make the film all that well suited to being a “must add” for your DVD collection for repeat viewings, but we can’t recommend the film enough for at least one clear run through.
It’s got a perfect weighting in terms of retelling the story of Soloman Northup’s kidnapping and unlawful sale in slavery, and both Ejiofor and Nyong’o deliver stand-out performances. The latter is fully deserving of her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award portraying the viciously treated slave, Patsy, with power, grace and great skill.
Giamatti, Cumberbatch and Fassbender are also impressive in their portrayal of the varying degrees of culpability of those involved in the slave trade in the United States, while Brad Pitt puts in a short, but effective showing to exemplify the people that worked against its oppression.
Steve McQueen is deft in his direction of the movie as he uses a whole host of devices to portray the protracted nature of Soloman’s plight, and that of slaves throughout history. The scene that sees Solomon strung up by his neck and left to stand on tip-toes to stay alive for the better part of a day is a stroke of genius. It helps to hammer home the reality of the situation with kids playing in the background as he teeters in the mud by his neck with his hands tied behind his back. Other slaves go on with their work unresponsive, a sole female slave, frightened and harried, brings him a quick and small kindness in a spoon of water and the slave boss watching on relentlessly.
Stories like this should be told and retold, so that we never forget the level of depravity of that humanity can sink. If you haven’t seen the movie yet, it’s an important one to watch. Not just because it acts as a reminder of the atrocities committed in the past, but also because it reiterates the importance of the progress that we’ve made in terms of social equality and the need to do more at home and abroad to prevent people from being used, exploited and beaten down.
The 12 Years A Slave DVD extras includes featurettes on the making of the movie and the film score that accompanies it, composed by Hans Zimmer. However, the real content is in the film itself, which will keep you enthralled as it absorbs you into the power, beauty, sorrow, injustice and gut-wrenching brutality of Solomon Northup’s 12 years spent as a kidnapped African American slave in the deep south.
12 Years A Slave DVD review: 5/5
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