Analyzing a Masterpiece: 12 Years a Slave, Winner of Three Acadamy Awards
By Brighton Steinberg
It’s 1841; a black man named Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) lives a peaceful, carefree life with his wife and two children as a free man in Saratoga, New York, where he earns a living as a violinist. One day, he meets two men who offer him an out-of-town music gig. To his terrible surprise, he is instead drugged and sold into slavery in Louisiana under the new name Platt. As viewers, we are as incredulous and wounded as Solomon Northup is as we observe his heinous treatment and infernal predicament—how he plummets from success as a respected musician to helplessness as private property.
Solomon decides that cooperation is the best and only way for him to survive given the circumstances. In transit, he encounters others in his same situation, but Solomon is systematically separated from them all. We follow Solomon throughout his life as a slave, and watch as he interacts with his masters and fellow slaves. We cannot help but wonder; will Solomon Northup reclaim his freedom, or will he remain a slave for the rest of his life?
12 Years a Slave is a 2013 British-American historical drama film based on a memoir of the same name written by the Solomon Northup who is the protagonist of the movie. The memoir was adapted into a screenplay by John Ridley. Ridley’s approach to the script’s format is very interesting, as he wrote the script to make it seem as if every moment was part of a mere “day in the life” of Solomon Northup. Ridley’s writing style for the scene transitions is such that it appears Solomon Northup jumps around from different jobs and tasks instead of always focusing on one. Additionally, Ridley does not hold back from showing the horrors the real Solomon had to live through; according to readers of the memoir, he was very true to the book. Ridley’s masterful screen adaption won him an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The power of twelve years a slave truly comes from the brutal depiction of slaves in America during the slave era and the cruelty that the masters showed towards Solomon. Solomon is always at the mercy of either his master or his master’s associates. The cast contributes considerably to the film’s convincing portrayal of such horror. The movie stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps (Northup’s master for much of the film), and Lupita Nyong'o (who won Best Supporting Actress) as a young female slave on Edwin’s land, and features many other exceptional actors such as Paul Dano and even Brad Pitt. The characters are fleshed out and undergo complex developments as the film progresses. The various character relationships and interactions demonstrate a strong shared dynamic between actors, and the acting itself shows that everyone simultaneously manages to remain entirely absorbed in their individual roles…therefore the well-rendered authenticity of the acting content also gives weight to 12 Years a Slave.
What truly sets the film apart, however, is the splendid job director Steve McQueen does with the already marvelous cast and script. McQueen’s strategy for reaching his audience throughout the film is contrast. He wants d to show how a free black man in America could just as easily be a slave. He wants to contrast the struggle that the slaves were enduring with the so-called “struggle” slave masters underwent. McQueen portrays this in very intelligent ways; one of his most ubiquitous techniques is mixing brutal scenes of punishment with the close-ups of the faces of the people both enforcing and enduring them. McQueen also uses flurries of quick movements in the action shots—when the tension was building up and conflict was rising—alternating with long, almost painful to watch scenes displaying and conveying the wrath of the slave masters and the wide range of punishments the slaves received, from whipping to even hanging. Overall, McQueen does a phenomenal job directing this movie and made all the components fit perfectly together.
With its beautiful cinematography, wonderful cast, sophisticated screenplay and stellar director, 12 Years a Slave, this year's official Best Picture, is a one-of-a-kind achievement in the field of portraying the shameful and heartbreaking truth about slave-era America.