As I began looking for a movie to review, I really wanted a movie in which talks about a topic that is heavy on my heart, Slavery. I decided to talk about the movie “12 Years a Slave.” This was my first time watching the movie so I was curious to see what was it going to be about. The opening scene started just as I supposed it would begin, a white man giving orders to African slaves and the white man sitting while watching the workers do the job. Chiwetel Ejiofor, who goes by Solomon Northup in the movie, is the main character and the first character we are introduced. He plays a free man in Saratoga, New York in 1808 who was terribly kidnapped and turned into a slave in 1841. He was a fiddler and performed at local dances.
It all began by Solomon getting approached by Merrill Brown and Abram Hamilton, who are intrigued by the way Solomon plays the violin. They both ask Solomon if he accompanies them to Washington D.C which he will be getting an increase on his pay, meaning that he will be getting paid a dollar a day, and three dollars for every night he performs. It is an offer Solomon cannot resist, what could go wrong right? Solomon, Brown, and Hamilton go out for dinner to celebrate the joining when it all goes wrong from there.
Hamilton and Brown give Solomon one too many drinks which causes him to get drunk and black out and pass out. Solomon is then sold to James H. Birch, a slave trader for $650 dollars. Solomon could not believe what has happen and he kept telling James that he is a “Free Man” James proceeds to beat Solomon viciously and disturbingly to make Solomon say that he is no longer a free man. James goes to tell him. “ You are no longer a Free man, you are nothing but a Georgia runaway.” This was the beginning for the terrible era Solomon was about to face. From there on Solomon was no longer a human being, he is a material item used for manual labor and will no longer go by the name Solomon, he is now called Plat.
127 our experts are availableright now
We then proceed to meet more slaves. A lady with two children, and several other male slaves which are getting bought by slave owners. So much has happened since then. Separation of families, slaves used as props and auctioned off nakedness in a room where they are bided on, even the female slaves getting raped by slave owners. There was a point in the movie where the roles change. Solomon starts whipping one of the slave owners because the slave owner himself wanted to whip Solomon for a duty that the slave owner gave Solomon.
The slave master did not like that so he then hangs Solomon from a tree just enough for him to feel the torture. Luckily he does not die. This is when it all falls into place and proves that hter is light at the end of the tunnel. Solomon meets Bass (who is played by Brad Pitt) a sharecropper who believes in Human Rights. Solomon converses with Bass about how he was kidnapped and thrown into the slave world with no consent. Solomon simply states.” I beg, that you write to my friends in the North, acquainting them of my situation, and beseeching them to forward free papers.” Bass accepts and proceeds to tell Solomon. “I will write your letter, sir. And if it brings you your freedom, it will be more than a pleasure, it will have been my duty.”
Bass is taking a risk, but he is doing it. Time goes by and Solomon is granted back his freedom and taken back to his home where he then sees his children all grown up and his wife. He asks for forgiveness due to his disappearance and not reaching out. The movie was not like any other cheaply made reenacting slavery and abolishing slavery. The movie took us deeper into lives of innocent African American whom wished they were granted freedom. The era of this time was really countryside vibes. The movie was based on a farm, ranch-like life which fit really well with the time this took place.
The costumes were really what I expected the costumes to be like, khaki pants and long sleeve collared shirts for the slave men and puffy dresses for the slave women while the slave owners would wear proper suits and clean clothing as for the ladies, they would have proper nicely gowns. Not only do I feel like this film was properly produced, but it was pretty accurate following Solomon’s book in which he wrote. I am very glad none of this occurs today although there are still racists who will take time out of their day to insult somebody if a different color. They need to accept that we are all different and we cannot think the same way and have the same beliefs.
