'12 Years a Slave'

As shown in the November 27, 2013 edition of the 'Monroe County Reporter':

Not to be confused with the actor who starred in "The Great Escape" (1963), Steve McQueen directs "12 Years a Slave" as a provocative invitation to read ourselves into the story.

Writer John Ridley ("Three Kings", "Red Tails") adapts the screenplay based upon the 1853 abolitionist memoir by Solomon Northup.  British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Dirty Pretty Things", "Kinky Boots") portrays Northup, a free black man from upstate New York.  The story follows Northup who is abducted and sold into slavery in Louisiana in 1841.  The film has stirred much controversy among its viewers because of its vivid depiction of both physical and sexual abuse in the slave trade. 

The brilliance and horror of McQueen's directing is that he courageously seeks emotional connection with his audience.  In one climactic scene the camera presents Solomon Northup (whose name is "Platt" in the slave trade) internally processing what has just occurred in the story.   The musical score in this scene is silent except for a chorus of cicadas.  Rarely in film does an actor make direct eye contact with the camera lens.  While gazing off into the distance in contemplation,  Solomon's eyes randomly fall on screen as if looking at the audience.  His eyes stay on the screen for a brief pause until they veer off screen again.  This film technique is reminiscent of Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski's use in "Dekalog" (1989), where an unnamed character seems to innocently and hauntingly peer into the viewer's "window of the soul."

Under McQueen's direction, "12 Years a Slave" is an example of very smart and careful storytelling.  Portraying a serious story (let alone writing a movie review) about slavery is no easy task.  Watching a serious movie about slavery is no easy task.  It should be no surprise by the film's title that Solomon Northup will be free again.  His story is of a rare slave who received justice while on earth.  Yet Patsey, a slave powerfully portrayed by newcomer actress Lupita Nyong'o, is a reminder that a great many slaves were never as fortunate.  The film follows Northup's journey through the landscapes of swamp lands, cotton fields and sugar plantations of which will resonate with many Georgians.  In the foreground of this scenery, the movie orients the audience into America's dark past, where a whole culture took no issue with enslaving black people as legal property.  It is hardly possible all slave owners were sadistic sociopaths like the character Edwin Epps, chillingly portrayed by Michael Fassbender ("The Counselor", "Shame"), because as the film suggests, slave owners were viewed as generous citizens, such as Northup's first owner, Master Ford, portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch ("Star Trek Into Darkness", "Sherlock").

As residents of the rural South, where the soil we sow is stained red from the blood of the many who have gone before us, the theme of powerlessness in "12 Years a Slave" invites Middle Georgians to reflect how we shape the rest of the story where we live, pray, eat, play, work, and hope. 

I noticed I was likely one of only three white persons in the movie theater packing into a crowded mid-evening weekend showing in predominantly white north Macon.  If it was not already obvious in the film that humanity is in desperate need of reconciliation, the tragedy observed was that a film like this failed to invite more of a mixed audience.