12 Years a Slave

The thing about inherently bad films is that as the story falls apart in front of your eyes all by itself, you cannot help but stick your finger into the bleeding wound that is said story and twist it even further, laughing out loud as you do so

Is it bad form to quote yourself? Quite possibly, and I should be ashamed. But I wanted to finish the thought. Because the thing about inherently good films is this; when the story is flowing, the script is coherent, clever, if lucky, the scenes are well set, the soundscape appropriate and the actors well cast, and can bring out the best in each other, it can be so incredibly hard to write about a film.

It’s not that there are no words, it’s that the words suddenly seem tired, old and insufficient next to this new thing. Having to write about 12 Years a Slave feels a bit like that. I want to write ten thousand words in some vague attempt to express how great I think this film really is, and why; but only one thought keeps recycling itself over and over in my head and that is that watching that film is like being having your soul whipped. Contrived? Possibly. But sometimes words can’t be used to describe the thing so you’ll have to make do with, ‘how did the thing make you feel?’ And the answer to that is, I felt like someone had whipped my soul. It’s a tough film, unsurprisingly.

It’s a fantastic story and I think maybe you should just go see for yourself. Believe the hype. And while you do that, I will take the opportunity to explore a few things I thought stood out.

First of all I want to mention that thing that films do, that  something that books, words, do not: showing. Visualising. Some film makers seem to have forgotten this and that’s why it’s such a pleasure watching a film by a film maker who hasn’t. This film is beautiful. And it masters the art of showing and not telling to perfection. The opening scenes with introduction of Solomon, the main character played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, his work life and family relations, are over in 5 minutes. Done. You can’t do that unless you know exactly what you’re doing, exactly which words need to be spoken, and how, and where to start and stop a scene. The short moment we have with Solmon and his children, for example, is simply exquisite, and all he does is put them to bed. It’s a tiny insight into a family’s everyday life, but it leaves you with a perfect understanding of both the children, the father, and their relationship. It’s really rather amazing. These short introductions work extremely well in establishing just exactly who Solomon is, and what his life entails, before he is captured and sold into slavery. And while we’re at it, the thing about the transition from free to slave isn’t that it’s brutal, it’s that it’s clever, it’s a trick that relies on trust, and it hurts so much to watch. What comes after the trick is of course brutal, but again, I think you should just watch this for yourself.

Another thing that stood out for me was how well the ‘minor’ characters we encounter along the way have been cast. The first that really hit me was the character of Theophilus Freeman (what a name), the slaver trader, absolutely brilliantly, and hauntingly, played by Paul Giamatti. His complete lack of human emotion, the palpable greed, and his dead eyes are terrifying, he’s so cruel and horrible, and I’m sure this is exactly the level of dehumanisation, degradation and humiliation that these poor people went through. It’s very hard to believably portray a terrible human being that’s not one-of-a-kind, but just another man in a long line slave traders, without it becoming too extreme, which is unbelievable, or too downplayed, which does not produce the desired effect. Paul Giamatti, you talented man, as if you didn’t already have all of my respect.
The same goes for Paul Dano, who is just so exceptionally good at playing assholes. His role as Tibeats, the chief carpenter at Ford’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) plantation is by no means an exception. Paul Dano first burst through the screens in Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood and though he’s played several interesting characters since then, I think with this role in particular he really cements his talent. He’s allowed to unfold as a truly horrible but also a small, timid man, a coward who has been awarded power. He’s dangerous but not intimidating, rather he is incredibly annoying, and one does, quite frankly, just want to punch him square in the face.
I urge you to watch the below clip, not only for a glimpse of Paul Dano’s great acting skills, but also to get a glimpse of just how beautifully this film is shot. It’s so beautiful! And in the midst of this beauty is the horror of slavery, both the physical (the hard labour) and the psychological (the song). It’s a stroke of genius, pure and simple.

Last but not least I want to mention the two mistresses; Mistress Epps, wife of cotton plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), played by Sarah Paulson (Deadwood), and Mistress Shaw, a former slave turned mistress of the house at a neighbouring plantation, played by Alfre Woodard (True Blood, amongst other things). Eps is suffering under a selfish husband, she is consumed with jealousy, completely engulfed by it, and her pain makes her lash out brutally and mercilessly. Shaw is calm, surveying the estate she has earned in the hardest way possible, letting herself be served tea by woman with the same colour skin as herself, a storm brewing inside of her. Their roles are the same and completely different at the same time. They don’t have a single scene together, yet I think in order to fully understand each character, one must look to the other.

Lastly, I want to briefly mention language. Solomon’s character goes through this wonderfully interesting linguistic transformation that is worth making a note of, should you do as you’re told and watch the film. Simply put, the way he speaks changes subtly over the course of the film; from soft to harsh, from Northern to Southern, it follows his mentality, as the slave mentality seeps into his blood. It’s just another example of Steve McQueen & co.’s attention to detail. Absolutely everything is covered, the variety of small but important narratives within the grand story is incredible, the string of actors performing at their very best is seemingly endless (I have not mentioned the obvious here as I wanted to draw attention to the less so, but of course the performances of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Fassbender and Brad Pitt are all outstanding) and if I didn’t give this film 6 A-Okays, I honestly don’t know what kind of film I would give that to. The ONLY thing I, personally, could have wished a little different, would perhaps be the ending. It’s a little staged, it’s a little sentimental. I don’t know what I was expecting, but maybe not that. Nevertheless it still gets a full house. I wouldn’t change a thing, it’s a fantastic, and very important, film.

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I’m a week behind, which is really annoying me, so I’m going to try and see if I can trick myself in some way into writing about the documentary I went to see yesterday before I go see the next film. Maybe if I promise myself a gift or something. Hm. Anyway, a review of Next Goal Wins to follow. In the mean time, check out the trailer, and thanks for reading. Oh and here is a link to a really interesting documentary about extreme film fans.