Solomon and Patsey's Roots

12 YEARS A SLAVE (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Aside from TV's miniseries classic, "Roots," Hollywood has shied away from the subject of slavery, as told by a slave. "Glory" and "Amistad" had the white heroes from the narrative point-of-view. "12 Years a Slave," based on Solomon Northup's 1853 autobiography, is a gripping, completely riveting and extraordinarily rich and downright upsetting film that is fiercely alive and acutely aware. I have never seen a film of slavery with this much gravitas and I sense that, along with "Roots," it will be long remembered as a powerful film of a time that is largely and shamefully ignored in La-La Land.

Solomon Northup is no ordinary slave and he is not born into the slave trade at all. Solomon (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is a free black man with a family in Saratoga, NY, where he makes his living as an accomplished violinist. One day he receives a profitable offer to do a circus tour with two entertainers (Scoot McNairy and Tarran Killam). Of course, the circus Solomon is attending is one full of despair - he is drugged, shackled, thrown into a jail and severely beaten, sold as a slave and transported to a cotton plantation in the Deep South run by a kind slave owner, William Ford (Benedict Cumberpatch), who preaches the word of Gospel. Then there is another transfer to the nastiest plantation owner I've ever seen in a movie, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a raging psychopath and rapist who uses a whip as if it is the last thing he can ever have control of. When the cotton pickers finish their pickings, the cotton is weighed and any cotton picker whose pickings weigh under 200 pounds is whipped. The slave girl Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) works harder than anyone and always has 500 pounds. Solomon only manages 180 or less.

"12 Years a Slave" is directed by Steve McQueen (no relation to the legendary actor) and it is exquisitely and harshly written by John Ridley. Almost every situation Solomon encounters is told from his point-of-view, especially with Patsey who encounters far too much anguish and misery for any human being to endure, until you realize she was born into this cruel trade. Another moment between Epps and a Canadian carpenter (Brad Pitt - who produced this film) seems to be a scene about them until you realize Solomon hears their every word - the carpenter proposes a world view where racism will wither, and Solomon is allowed one of a few moments to smile. No single shot seems to be told from the white slave owner's point-of-view and that is something of a cinematic godsend - all I could say is that thirty-plus-years since "Roots" and only now we get the slave's perspective in a big-screen treatment.

The performances are absolutely top-notch and first-rate (though Pitt is the only flaw - he sticks out like a sore thumb but, hey, he produced the damn movie). I have seen Chiwetel Ejiofor in films like "Dirty Pretty Things" and "Kinky Boots" but I sense this film will be the one he is remembered for - he has a haunting presence, raw pain etched in his eyes, and shows strength and vulnerability where it hurts him and the audience. Fassbender is almost too cruel to be kind - he is a lashing presence who burns up the screen with blazing energy. Even more cruel is Sarah Paulson as Epp's wife who may sense that Solomon, whose slave name is Platt, is not all he claims to be. All slaves can't read or write yet Solomon can but he has to hide it or there will be hell to pay.

Hellish, occasionally torturous to sit through, pungently acted and directed and courageously told, "12 Years a Slave" is an emotional roller-coaster ride that will take a major toll on the average viewer - this is not a good time at the movies on Friday night. The extreme punishment of being a slave should make the most hardened and jaded cynic shed a tear (the lashing of Patsey or the failed hanging of Solomon will make you squirm and upset you in extended long takes by McQueen that heighten by observation). We come away with the wrongdoing and immorality of mercilessly treating black people like chattel - taking a slave's original name away and disposing of their family just to be treated lower than dirt. Both Ejiofor and Nyong'o put a human face in an era many would like to forget yet shouldn't. This is powerful, vital cinema, folks.