12 Years a Slave review

I've finally seen the OTHER critical darling to debut at the Toronto International Film Festival.

12 Years a Slave is a movie that makes no compromises. It's not easy to watch, and though it does have some things that could be described as action, they certainly aren't things you want to see happening. But that's what's so powerful about the movie. It shows you just how horrible things can be, and how horrible people can be. It's a thoroughly exhausting film, but one which you will be thankful to have seen.

The movie is about a free black man living in New York State who is kidnapped during a business meeting and sold into slavery. There, he is forced to conceal his identity just to survive, and endures all sorts of atrocities. The main character, Solomon, isn't made explicitly likable through his actions, but I still found myself sympathizing with him purely by way of his situation. He was given a slave name and was mostly referred to it throughout the movie, but his real name would stick with me just as much. Why did this happen? I think it's because of how horrible it is, in and of itself, that Solomon's name was taken from him. He endures all this suffering, so the least we can do is remember his name.

The center of attention is always the most disturbing thing in the scene. Everything else gives in under the horrific acts that you see being done to human beings-that were done to human beings time and time again. It's a brutal film that serves to expose the horrors of this miserable point of human history. As a matter of fact, it reaches the point of being genuinely haunting. There are horrible things happening to these people, yet the slave owners are more concerned with their investments, their property, their religion. There were scenes where I was just horrified that people could be so indifferent to the suffering of their fellow man when it is happening right in their presence.

Yes, it can be difficult to watch. Yet, I found it just as difficult to look away from. As much as I was so wholly disgusted with what I was seeing, it was all too real. I could not look away, despite just how horrific the events transpiring were. It's something that I felt I needed to be watching, and I feel that it's something that everyone should try to watch. This movie affected me. It filled me with the desire to never let this happen again. That is what this kind of cinema strives to do, and 12 Years a Slave is easily the best of its kind that I have seen. This is not one of the best movies of the year. This is one of the best movies of all time. I understand that I am making that statement without much to compare it to, but I feel that it's true all the same.