12 Years A Slave (2014)

Rating: 5/5

"Your story is amazing, and in no good way," a white Canadian labourer tells the slave 'Platt.' What has brought this narrator and his unlikely listener together are two entirely different roads, but they meet on the same plantation. Bass is there for the money, having travelled across America for some 30 years, but he can leave any time he chooses, something he says he is grateful for. 'Platt' is enslaved, along with countless other black men and women, but unlike many others, he was born a free man. In fact, he is a free man, and his name is Solomon Northup.

In 1841, Solomon is a happy husband and father, respected by his neighbours, and a gifted violin player, living a successful middle-class life in Saratoga Springs, New York. When his talents are heard of by two suspiciously talkative men, he is enthusiastically enlisted for a two week engagement with a couple of other musicians in Washington. He enjoys an appraised week there, but is suddenly drugged by his 'employers' and wakes up in shackles, on a bare brick floor. Kidnapped and sold into slavery, Solomon is ripped from his wonderful life, and assumed to be the Georgian runaway Platt. 

Every single element of this film, based on the incredible 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, is absolute perfection, and demonstrates everything one would expect from a brilliant movie. In the same vein as The Color Purple, it is a heart-wrenching, detailed personal account (although this one is not narrated as such) that sees our protagonist suffer much pain, both physical and emotional, but ultimately reach a happy conclusion. Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is instantly likable. We see him dote over his wife and children, and he demonstrates a charming, gentlemanly manner. He carries himself gracefully, and has a very kind face, a very striking face.

The first moments of his horrific capture are made critical by Ejiofor, whose pure excellence is guaranteed to see an Oscar nomination, not only with his physical performance, but with perfect vocal control, which he goes on to flaunt throughout. As his captors beat him relentlessly with spiked clubs, his usually warm and calm voice bursts out in high pitched wheezes, like his lungs are screaming. A small detail, perhaps, but one of many that I picked up on the perfect execution of for the duration of the movie. Chiwetel Ejiofor, a true British treasure, has previously displayed versatility and craft in a variety of roles - particularly enjoyable as transvestite fashionista Lola in Kinky Boots - but here is given the opportunity to demonstrate every admirable length he is able to reach, with absolute dedication to every intimate characteristic.

Solomon's first prison is that of proud but kindly William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose secretly nurturing manner recognises his employee's talents, not only for music, but for transport and engineering. He presents Solomon with a new violin, who is later forced to play it to distract onlookers from the violence of his new master, the sadistic Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender in terrifyingly good form). Epps reads crassly to his slaves from the Bible, making absurd connections to the verses and his own cruelty, and declaring, "That's Scripture!"

It is this tyrant's grasp from which Solomon is eventually rescued, but in the years beforehand, he and the other slaves are subjected to horrific, brutal treatment by their 'owners'. A scene in which Solomon helplessly witnesses a slave woman being whipped almost to death uses sound to present us with a metaphor which carries on throughout. As our protagonist screams in protest, every word is drowned out by the vicious crack of the whip. It is a harrowing sequence. This effective use of sound is noticeable so often. A menacing foghorn-like noise booms to announce the approach of some or other oppressor. The sharp creaking of a tightening violin string quakes with implication of it imminently snapping.

Impressive cinematography is similarly utilised. Every shot is perfect in its construction and purpose. There are too many worthy sequences, notable for their beauty and intelligence, to mention. Director Steve McQueen has once again demonstrated a deep understanding and devotion to his material, and made every element work to form. A former war artist, his film portfolio ranges many topical and thought-inducing presentations, and this is surely his greatest triumph to date.

The cast are an amazingly talented ensemble, with each individual's performance, no matter how brief, being given all the energy and attention to detail that a lead would. Every single actor is utterly dedicated to their character, completely absorbed in it, and as a whole create a seamless reality to the situation.

Although much of 12 Years A Slave is difficult, upsetting viewing, it is undoubtedly one of the year's best films already. Engaging and totally captivating, this movie represents an important milestone in cinema, in history and in literature. It is perfect beyond words. To date it has won 174 awards and 359 nominations, and the 2014 Oscar Nominations are announced on the 16th. This is sure to be among them for many a category.