7) 12 Years A Slave
I can now officially say that no film this year moved me like 12 Years A Slave did. Honestly, I’ll probably never re-watch Steve McQueen’s beautifully heartfelt re-telling of Solomon Northup’s horrifying journey into slavery, because it weighs on your conscious like eating an entire Crave Case from White Castle would weigh your stomach, but this is absolutely a film that DEMANDS to be seen once. It’s two hours of unfiltered hatred, unjust societal treatment, savagely tragic slave beatings, wrongful imprisonment, and bastard plantation owners, but McQueen’s raw and honest treatment of the source material, channeling the human suffering that took place during the film’s time period, makes his film an absolute show-stopper.
Caught in the Southern slavery system is actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays the main character of Solomon Northup like he’s enslaved himself. I already described in great detail how Ejiofor delivers one of the most astounding performances of the year, so I’ll save the space here, but I can promise you if we’re not discussing this prolific performer’s name come Oscar season, it will be a grave injustice. Michael Fassbender also deserves a shot at some Oscar gold himself for his role as the “evil” plantation owner Edwin Epps, but Ejiofor is the real stud pony, one I truly hope gets the recognition he deserves. Of course, the whole cast is phenomenal, so what I really should be saying here is bravo all around – bravo.
12 Years A Slave is an important film. It’s not really something you watch for entertainment, but instead for historical recounting and gutsy, true filmmaking. There’s a reason I walked out of the theater and couldn’t even carry a conversation for more than maybe two minutes.
12 Years A Slave is in theaters now. Read my full review of the film here.
