In my opinion, don't withhold this movie from anyone who wants a glimpse as to what slavery was like. [90], The film, however, was not without its criticisms. It’s all on Hulu. Release Date: 03/04/2014. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses … I have lived in New York for 16 years. [48], The musical score to 12 Years a Slave was composed by Hans Zimmer, with original on-screen violin music written and arranged by Nicholas Britell and performed by Tim Fain. [4] Other characters in the film were also real people, including Edwin and Mary Epps, and Patsey. 12 Years a Slave fueled the fires of abolitionism in 1853 and today provides valuable insight into the harrowing lives that slaves lived. In addition to writing the 12 YEARS A SLAVE screenplay, John also wrote BEN HUR (2016). Two white men, Brown and Hamilton, offer him short-term employment as a musician if he will travel with them to Washington, D.C.; however, once they have arrived, they drug Northup and deliver him to a slave pen run by a man named Burch. McQueen later told an interviewer: I read this book, and I was totally stunned. Finally, with the help of a Canadian abolitionist, he was rescued and reunited with his family in New York. [88] Tina Hassannia of Slant Magazine said that "using his signature visual composition and deafening sound design, Steve McQueen portrays the harrowing realism of Northup's experience and the complicated relationships between master and slave, master and master, slave and slave, and so on". 1.2K. [76] It continued to improve into its third weekend, grossing $4.6 million at 410 locations. In the book, 12 Years A Slave, the heart wrenching testimony of Solomon “Platt” Northup is told. Twelve Years a Slave, Solomon Northup (1808 - 1863) Twelve Years a Slave is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and edited by David Wilson. [11] Nevertheless, news and magazine articles around the time of the film's release described a scholar alleging some license that Northup could have taken with his book, and liberties that McQueen definitely took with Northup's original, for dramatic, modernizing, or other reasons. Yes. Tibeats and his group try to hang Northup, but they are not successful. Once again, Northup asks for help in getting a letter to New York. [28] Since the event, Ridley has noted his regret for not mentioning McQueen[29][30] and denied the feud. "The sailor unhesitatingly stabs and kills [the male slave]," he wrote, stating that "this seems unlikely on its face—slaves are valuable, and the sailor is not the owner. Although he is very young, I thought it was critical for him to know about slavery, and what African Americans had to go through. "[13], Forrest Wickman of Slate wrote of Northup's book giving a more favorable account of the author's onetime master, William Ford, than the McQueen film. [46] Using an earth tone color palette, Norris created nearly 1,000 costumes for the film. "[92] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. This movie is real, raw, and a true story. Afterwards, Northup mournfully burns the letter to prevent Epps from finding it. An excellent movie. You have to watch it. Some time later, Patsey is caught by Epps going to a neighboring plantation in order to acquire soap, as Mrs. Epps will not let her have any. In the middle of the night, a drunken Epps wakes Northup and questions him menacingly about the letter while holding a knife to Northup's stomach. [40], Cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, the film's primary camera operator,[41] shot 12 Years a Slave on 35 mm film with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio using both an Arricam LT and ST. "Particularly for a period piece, film gives the audience a definite sense of period and quality," said Bobbitt. He later wrote an autobiography about his experience but sadly faded into oblivion. 12 Years a Slave is based on the 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup, a free man who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Solomon Northup. Although Bass is hesitant at first because of the risks, he agrees to send it. While praising Ejiofor's work, she stated: "It's a picture that stays more than a few safe steps away from anything so dangerous as raw feeling. Northup is narrowly able to convince Epps that Armsby is lying and Epps relents. An American President has to give up all his interests businesses etc. [38] Magnolia, a plantation in Schriever, Louisiana, is just a few miles from one of the historic sites where Northup was held. Northup snaps and beats Tibeats with his hands before beating him with his own whip. 12 Years a Slave is, like The Trial, a trapdoor over the abyss. [53], 12 Years a Slave premiered at the Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2013;[54] it was later screened at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 6,[55] the New York Film Festival on October 8,[56] the New Orleans Film Festival on October 10,[57] and the Philadelphia Film Festival on October 19. John Ridley. As he walks in, he sees his wife with their fully grown son, daughter, and his daughter’s husband. 12 YEARS A SLAVE is based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. Such an account of slavery told from the slave’s perspective is very rare, as few slaves were literate and even fewer shared their stories with the world. Unable to work his fields, Epps leases his slaves to a neighboring plantation for the season. Premiere of 12 Years a Slave at the New York Film Festival", "Director's Cut: Steve McQueen ('12 Years a Slave')", "Columbia Records to Release '12 Years a Slave' Soundtrack", "12 Years a Slave (2013) – Soundtrack.Net", "Inspired By '12 Years A Slave' Soundtrack Features John Legend, Cody Chestnutt, Chris Cornell & More", "John Legend's 'Roll Jordan Roll' Debuts From '12 Years A Slave, "Telluride: '12 Years A Slave' Ignites The Festival, But Fox Searchlight Plans To Take It Slow", "McQueen's "12 Years A Slave" Will Have U.S. Regardless of your race, these films are unlikely to teach you anything you don't already know. [7] 12 Years a Slave was later named the 44th greatest film since 2000 in a BBC poll of 177 critics.[8]. [23] In early 2012, the rest of the roles were cast, and filming was scheduled to begin at the end of June 2012.[24][25]. Northup is returned to his home and family, crying as he walks up the steps. Northup gives an emotional farewell to Patsey and rides off to his freedom. Twelve Years A Slave is just such a movie. The film received nine Academy Award nominations, winning three: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress for Nyong'o. [64] The film was distributed by Entertainment One in the United Kingdom. Widescreen means a big film, an epic tale – in this case an epic tale of human endurance."[42]. I’m afraid the racism still continues on both sides as I lived in the New York suburbs, Nanuet and the South Bronx. [68] International release dates for 12 Years a Slave were largely delayed to early 2014 in order to take advantage of the attention created by awards seasons. After meeting screenwriter John Ridley at a Creative Artists Agency screening of Hunger in 2008, director Steve McQueen got in touch with Ridley about his interest in making a film about "the slave era in America" with "a character that was not obvious in terms of their trade in slavery. # BlackHistoryMonth. Debut at NYFF51", "NOFF Announces Opening Closing Night Films", "22nd Philadelphia Film Festival Announces Film Additions and Scheduling Changes", "Paramount, Brad Pitt Company Feuding Over '12 Years a Slave' (Exclusive)", "Steve McQueen's 'Twelve Years a Slave' to be Released by Fox Searchlight This December", "Unflinching '12 Years a Slave' poses monumental marketing challenge", "New Regency Moves '12 Years A Slave' Up to an October 18 Platform Bow", "12 Years a Slave Could Win Best Picture, but About the Box Office ...", "In first wider weekend, '12 Years a Slave' reaches key audiences", "Can '12 Years a Slave' Translate Oscar Buzz into Box Office? So if you paint it badly or put it in the sort of wrong perspective, you draw more attention to what's wrong with the image rather than looking at the image. The barbaric way that some of those involved in the slave trade treated their fellow human beings almost defies belief. Stephanie Zacharek of The Village Voice was more critical of the film. Describing this as "the hero problem", Malamud Smith concluded his review explaining, "We can handle 12 Years a Slave. New Info, Images, Maps, which contains a robust amount of supporting material and, better still, is right now the same cost as this version. Evermore (Chapin) Michael Fassbender (Epps) Sarah Paulson (Mistress Epps) Lupita Nyong’o (Patsey) Brad Pitt (Bass) Directed by Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame) and scripted by John Ridley (Red Tails), 12 Years a Slave is a well-crafted film that uses the topic of slavery in the pre-Civil War U.S. as a means for ruminating on the human condition. Seeing this movie brings to light the different experiences of slavery. One of the sailors attempts to rape a female slave, but is stopped by a male slave. ... You have to see this so you can understand, so you can just start to understand. 12 Years put it in full view like bearing witness to war crimes. [66] Despite its content, the film's critical success has assisted its domestic distribution by Fox Searchlight that began with a limited release aimed primarily towards art house and African-American patrons. [83] Paul MacInnes of The Guardian scored the film five out of five stars, writing, "Stark, visceral and unrelenting, 12 Years a Slave is not just a great film but a necessary one. [31][32] He spoke favorably of working with McQueen, and explained that his sole screenplay credit was due to the rules of the Writers Guild of America. [27], After both won Oscars at the 86th Academy Awards, it was reported that McQueen and Ridley had been in an ongoing feud over screenplay credit. [52] Legend's cover of "Roll, Jordan, Roll" debuted online three weeks prior to the soundtrack's release. ! ", "The International Fate of '12 Years': Steve McQueen's Film Is a Box-Office Test Case", "Like Kanye West, Sean 'Diddy' Combs backs '12 Years a Slave' [Video]", "Diddy Praises '12 Years a Slave': 'The Truth Has Finally Almost Been Told' (Video)", "Weekend Report: 'Gravity' Wins Again, 'Carrie' Leads Weak Newcomers", "Weekend Box Office: 'Jackass: Bad Grandpa' Tops With $32 Million", "Weekend Report: 'Ender' Wins Box Office 'Game,' 'Thor' Mighty Overseas", "Top 20 Most Pirated Movies of 2014 Led by 'Wolf of Wall Street,' 'Frozen,' 'Gravity, "Specialty Box Office: '12 Years A Slave' Triumphs In Limited Debut; 'All Is Lost,' 'Kill Your Darlings' Open Solid", "Review: Powerful 12 Years a Slave won't turn away from the brutality of slavery", "12 Years a Slave: Toronto film festival – first look review", "Toronto 2013: '12 Years a Slave' is a landmark of cruelty and transcendence", "The Blood and Tears, Not the Magnolias: '12 Years a Slave' Holds Nothing Back in Show of Suffering", "Toronto International Film Festival 2013: 12 Years a Slave Review", "Slavery, a film narrative and the empty myth of original intent", "12 Years a Slave Prizes Radiance Over Life", "We Can Be Heroes: 12 Years a Slave, Schindler's List, and the hero problem in American movies", "What didn't deserve to make our Best Films Of The Decade So Far list? "[84], Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised it as "a new movie landmark of cruelty and transcendence" and as "a movie about a life that gets taken away, and that's why it lets us touch what life is". Diddy. I also wanted him to have a deep understanding of slavery, and this movie delivered. [49] The film also features a few pieces of western classical and American folk music such as Franz Schubert's "Trio in B-flat, D471" and John and Alan Lomax's arrangement of "Run, Nigger, Run". But watching "12 Years a Slave" is something of a shock to the system as there is nothing to temper the suffering. Northup is shipped to New Orleans along with other captive African-Americans. The juxtaposition of the status of free black citizens in one part of the early US and their enslaved cousins in another is not explained, as it would be in a less artful piece. At the same time, I was pretty upset with myself that I didn't know this book. Maybe we need a story framed on that individual scale in order to understand it. Masters such as William Ford and Edwin Epps, although very different characters, both used an interpretation of Christianity to justify their ownership of slaves. Bottom line shows you how ownership of any human being is wrong, and it permits their progression ie is the epitome of oppression and degradation. My 11-year old son had a book report and presentation to do for Black History Month on Frederick Douglas. However, it fails to make a clear-cut statement about the slavery issue or provide new insight on that dark chapter in American history. Meet the writer of the "12 Years a Slave" screenplay, and the rest of the team that made the movie. [60] Because of a distribution pact between 20th Century Fox and New Regency, Fox Searchlight Pictures acquired the film's United States distribution rights. Top subscription boxes – right to your door, © 1996-2021, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Unlike the movie, they had three children together, not two. Like their father isn’t going to inform them of stock to buy and sell. He was disturbed by what he saw, and perhaps he was too young for this movie, but again, I thought it was an important history lesson. This movie has changed my life As a social studies teacher for over 20 years, I wonder why it took this movie to slap me in the face and realize the horrors of slavery. [73] An additional viewing option for the film in the media format of Video on demand has been made available as well. I basically made it my passion to make this book into a film. It can be argued that Nazi Germany lost the war both because it diverted so much manpower to the killing of Jews and because it did not exploit the brilliance of Jewish scientists in building smarter weapons. [86], Manohla Dargis wrote, in her review for The New York Times, "the genius of 12 Years a Slave is its insistence on banal evil, and on terror, that seeped into souls, bound bodies and reaped an enduring, terrible price". [72] In supplemental fashion, a widescreen hi-definition Blu-ray Disc version of the film was also released on the same day. Videos. For those looking for a better version, you might consider Twelve Years a Slave - Enhanced Edition by Dr. Sue Eakin Based on a Lifetime Project. 12 Years a Slave clearly points out that racism is a learned behavior, not an inherent understanding that people are born with. "[91] Peter Malamud Smith of Slate criticized the story, saying, "12 Years a Slave is constructed as a story of a man trying to return to his family, offering every viewer a way into empathizing with its protagonist. Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2019. This film, though brutal in its honesty, was incredibly excellent. Northup was put to work on plantations in the state of Louisiana for 12 years before being released. This film was at times be very hard to watch and Steve McQueen has not held back in portraying an unrelenting cycle of physical and psychological violence and abuse. Even when it depicts inhuman cruelty, as it often does, it never compromises its aesthetic purity. [39][62] "It may be a tough subject matter, but when handled well ... films that are tough to sit through can still be commercially successful," said Phil Contrino of Boxoffice Magazine. Corliss draws parallels with Nazi Germany, saying, "McQueen shows that racism, aside from its barbarous inhumanity, is insanely inefficient. Still, the slave … A slave trader named Theophilus Freeman gives Northup the identity of "Platt", a runaway slave from Georgia, and sells him to plantation owner William Ford. This really should be essential viewing for everyone old enough to understand it. The sheriff asks Northup a series of questions to confirm that his answers match the facts of his life in New York. They believed the Bible sanctioned slavery, and that it was their 'Christian duty' to preach the scriptures to their slaves. Main Results Continued. [50] A soundtrack album, Music from and Inspired by 12 Years a Slave, was released digitally on November 5 and received a physical format release on November 11, 2013, by Columbia Records. It is currently one of the site's highest-rated films, as well as the best-reviewed film of 2013. It earned three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress. [81], Richard Corliss of TIME wrote: "McQueen's film is closer in its storytelling particulars to such 1970s exploitation-exposés of slavery as Mandingo and Goodbye, Uncle Tom. And then I also worked with Lupita Nyong'o, who is Kenyan but she did her training at Yale. For example, in Chapter XI he exhibits this pre-feminist leaning with two stories. [74], 12 Years a Slave earned $187.7 million, including $56.7 million in the United States. The film "lacks a necessary emotional continuity. [62] 12 Years a Slave was commercially released on October 18, 2013 in the United States for a limited release of 19 theaters, with a wide release in subsequent weeks. Epps regularly rapes Patsey while his wife abuses and humiliates her out of jealousy. Search Feedback Did you find what you were looking for? My kids are young and I still let them see this. We also heard a lot about the ideology behind enslavement. Automatic works cited and bibliography formatting for MLA, APA and Chicago/Turabian citation styles. Read & Download the "12 Years a Slave" Script. I beg all of you to take your kids, everybody to see it. I don't think it's something the movie is denying in the way it intentionally denies so many other conventions; it's still structured around an ending that's supposed to function as a release, but because it can't organize that sense of catharsis it so badly needs, it just feels as though McQueen is scurrying for an exit. Being white and a woman, I saw first hand the treatment of people who lived in low class areas. Start your free trial to watch 12 Years a Slave and other popular TV shows and movies including new releases, classics, Hulu Originals, and more. "To know that we were right there in the place where these things occurred was so powerful and emotional," said actor Chiwetel Ejiofor. A growing tension between Northup and plantation carpenter John Tibeats finally breaks as Tibeats tries to beat Northup. See All. [99] The film also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film, while Ejiofor received the Best Actor award. Or they "got lucky". Ridley also wrote and created the TV series AMERICAN CRIME (2015-2017). [89] David Simon, the creator of the TV series The Wire, highly praised the movie, commenting that "it marks the first time in history that our entertainment industry, albeit with international creative input, has managed to stare directly at slavery and maintain that gaze". At the beginning of 12 Years a Slave, the kidnapped freeman Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), has a painful sexual encounter with an unnamed … Essays for Twelve Years a Slave (2013 film) Twelve Years a Slave (2013 film) essays are academic essays for citation. 1.7K. An excellent movie. This is a masterpiece, disturbing, riveting, and necessary. [15] Northup was a Christian of his time, writing of his former master being "blinded" by "circumstances"[14] that in retrospect meant a racist acceptance of slavery despite being a Christian, a position untenable to Christians now[16] and to Christian abolitionists of the 19th century but not contradictory to Northup himself. In Northup's own words, "There never was a more kind, noble, candid, Christian man than William Ford," adding that Ford's circumstances "blinded [Ford] to the inherent wrong at the bottom of the system of Slavery." Neither thanked the other during their respective acceptance speeches at the event. We're more invested in one hero than in millions of victims; if we're forced to imagine ourselves enslaved, we want to imagine ourselves as Northup, a special person who miraculously escaped the system that attempted to crush him." 12 Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical period-drama film and an adaptation of the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup, a New York State-born free African-American man who was kidnapped in Washington, D.C., by two conmen in 1841 and sold into slavery. Many analysts compared the film's content to other drama films of a similar vein such as Schindler's List (1993) and The Passion of the Christ (2004), which became box office successes despite their respective subject matters. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 11, 2019. [17] Reviewing the film for History Extra, the website of BBC History Magazine, she said: "The film starkly and powerfully unveiled the sights and sounds of enslavement – from slaves picking cotton as they sang in the fields, to the crack of the lash down people's backs. The film was directed by Steve McQueen, and the screenplay was written by John Ridley. [58] On November 15, 2011, Summit Entertainment announced it had secured a deal to distribute 12 Years a Slave to international markets. You are treated with intelligence by the director and the writer, as well as by the actors. In researching the 12 Years a Slave true story, we discovered that Solomon Northup married Anne Hampton on Christmas Day, 1828. Show this to anyone who thinks slavery wasn't so bad. [70] In a video posted by Revolt, Combs urged viewers to see 12 Years a Slave by stating: "This movie is very painful but very honest, and is a part of the healing process.
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