Movie Review: 12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave- the film adaptation of Solomon Northup's memoirs of going from being a free man in New York to being kidnapped and sold into slavery for 12 years- took away the coveted Best Picture award at this year's Academy Awards. Given the nature of the story and its historical impact, the victory wasn't all that surprising. After missing it during its theatrical release, I was finally able to catch 12 Years a Slave on DVD right after the Academy Awards last week. While 12 Years a Slave is mostly a successful telling of Northup's story, there are certain shortcomings in the filmmaking that hold it back from being a complete success.

12 Years a Slave is certainly not lacking its fair share of powerful scenes and performances. There are a few scenes here that convey the horrors of slavery with such unflinching brutality that's simply heartbreaking to watch. This sense of heartbreak carries over to the performances of Chitwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o. Ejiofor is at his finest as Northup, embodying his will to survive amidst all the suffering he was enduring. Nyong'o in her first film role as Patsey- the sexually abused and prized slave of depraved cotton plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender)- makes quite the impression in her limited screen time. There's only two scenes where Patsey really has any substantial dialogue and Nyong'o makes the absolute most of it with the most powerful and devastating monologues of the entire film. I'm really excited and curious to see where Nyong'o goes from here; she has the potential to do big things in this business. Even the brief appearances from Paul Giamatti, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sarah Paulson as various figures from Northup's horrific journey into slavery are haunting and memorable. Aside from American Hustle, there was no more impressive acting ensemble in 2013 than 12 Years a Slave.

Where 12 Years a Slave loses its footing is with the script and direction. Throughout most of the film I had the feeling this could've been so much better with a different writer/director team than John Ridley and Steve McQueen. Ridley's script is far too uneven (especially in the middle of the film) to get the full power from this subject matter. The film starts off absolutely brilliantly documenting Solomon's kidnapping and initial journey to the slave auction in Louisiana then starts to lose focus by jumping around too much when he actually starts serving his term as a slave. The jumpy narrative completely blurs the timeline of the film and makes Northup's service seem far shorter than it actually was. It also doesn't help that Ridley is not consistent with showing the brutality of slavery. There are certain scenes that play out every detail of the torture of slavery, while others show restraint and cut away before anything graphic happens. When you have a film about such an ugly and graphic subject matter, subtlety lessens the emotional impact and softens the overall depiction of slavery. McQueen, on the other hand, forces his indie roots far too hard here. McQueen previously directed indie darlings Hunger and Shame, and for whatever reason, implores the same filmmaking techniques here. Long extreme close-ups with no dialogue and artsy editing tricks are just awkward and unfitting in a film about slavery. 12 Years a Slave is an important film that is well worth the watch for some brilliant acting and individual moments that hit with brute emotional force, but it could've been more substantial with a more well-rounded script and minimalist direction.

4/5 Stars