12 Years a Slave is not the first movie about slavery. In a review on nytimes.com written October 17, 2013 it said that 12 Years a Slave “may be the movie that finally makes it impossible for American cinema to sell the ugly lies it has been hawking for more than a century.” Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and directed by Steve McQueen, it has won three Oscars, four Golden Globes, and has had close to three hundred nominations. This historical drama has been rated 8.1 stars out of 10. 12 Years a Slave should, without doubt, be on the American Film Institute’s top 100 films list due to its astounding acting, impressive yet simple photography, impacting sound, and seducing story. Based on the true story, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was born free in upstate New York. In 1841 two con men offered him work playing fiddle in a circus. So Solomon, being an accomplished violin player, traveled with them to Washington D.C. where he was drugged, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. In the Red
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This historical drama is set in Louisiana before the civil war. “12 Years a Slave is one of the most authentic descriptions of slavery from the viewpoint of the slave himself.” (Mollie Lielblich, ushistoryscene.com). A major theme in Solomon’s writing is the violence he endured. He was constantly being greeted with beatings, whips, and shackles by slave owners in order for them to display dominance and power over their slaves. Other movies have not been able to accurately capture the brutality of slavery in the way that 12 Years a Slave did. The story of Patsey and her encounters with a lustful master and jealous mistress represents the horrors female slaves faced. It also shows the trauma mothers endured when they were separated from their children. The film shows the extensive grief that overwhelmed women as their children were sold to different masters. This movie exposed the horrors of
This historical drama is set in Louisiana before the civil war. “12 Years a Slave is one of the most authentic descriptions of slavery from the viewpoint of the slave himself.” (Mollie Lielblich, ushistoryscene.com). A major theme in Solomon’s writing is the violence he endured. He was constantly being greeted with beatings, whips, and shackles by slave owners in order for them to display dominance and power over their slaves. Other movies have not been able to accurately capture the brutality of slavery in the way that 12 Years a Slave did. The story of Patsey and her encounters with a lustful master and jealous mistress represents the horrors female slaves faced. It also shows the trauma mothers endured when they were separated from their children. The film shows the extensive grief that overwhelmed women as their children were sold to different masters. This movie exposed the horrors of