12 Years a Slave is the most devastating film of 2013, pretty much by default.
Any movie that takes an unflinching look at the horrors of slavery (and not many have) will be painful to watch, and this one certainly is.
I was prepared to be moved by the film on that level but I was not prepared to be so completely blown away by the filmmaking.
Director Steve McQueen displays such mastery of his camera that my horror was matched by my exhilaration over the artistry. The best comparison I can make is to Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, which also paired gut-wrenching images with virtuoso direction.
McQueen is particularly adept at long takes — not the sort of choreographed technical achievements that Alfonso Cuaron routinely delivers, but scenes that put the viewer uncomfortably into the world of the characters.
The most talked-about example is the near-hanging of Solomon Northup. Though he is saved from death by a plantation overseer, he is left standing on his tiptoes in fresh mud, the noose pressing tightly against his flesh.
McQueen lets the camera linger on that image for an impossibly long time, as plantation life resumes in the background, nobody fearless enough to offer Northup any help. It is a beautiful, serene composition made sickening by the foreground action.
12 Years a Slave is full of scenes and images like that, some more painful to watch that others. But the filmmaking — good lord, the filmmaking is a blessing to behold.
Today’s SOTD comes from the film’s soundtrack, and is used in another of those long takes. Northup stands among a group of slaves who have just buried one of their own, a man who died working in the fields. They sing the spiritual ‘Roll Jordan Roll’ over the man’s grave (the song is a reflection of ‘Run Ni–er Run,’ sung by a particularly odious plantation worker earlier in the film).
Northup doesn’t join in the singing at first, and I read that as his not wanting to identify completely with the slaves. He, after all, was a free man, dropped into this predicament through trickery. If he identifies with the “real” slaves, is he giving up hope?
In a beautiful piece of acting, Chiwetel Ejiofor slowly gives in to the moment, joining the chorus until his is the dominant voice. Rather than giving up hope, he merges his hope with theirs.
While my favorite film of the year is the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, I am pulling for 12 Years a Slave to win Best Picture. It’s the rare film that deserves to win for historic, political, social and artistic reasons.
Meet Me In Montauk 
Well, first of all your clip was taken down due to copyright infringement so I was unable to see the scene or hear the song.
While I suspect you will hear more from Amy on this than from me, I was not nearly as enamored or blown away by this film or the direction of this film as you clearly were. To be sure, the hanging scene you mentioned was singularly unique and startling. Frankly though, it was one of the only scenes that made a huge directing impact on me. And I had not read or heard about that scene (or any other scene other than graphic whippings) prior to the movie, so my response was quite spontaneous.
Don’t get me wrong, I did really appreciate the film and thought it was quite compelling and important. I just wasn’t “blown away” by it or the direction as a whole. And so it would not be my selection for best picture, though certainly from a historical and social perspective, I would by no means be bent out of shape if it won.
I found a new clip of the actual movie scene… I hope this one lasts on YouTube.
I was able to view it. Your critique makes me very interested in seeing this movie. I love good comparisons like…The best comparison I can make is to Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, which also paired gut-wrenching images with virtuoso direction….
Bravo!
Actually, today’s film/SOTD offers another perfect example of the “Expectations Theory” that Clay posed yesterday. Certainly, this is a brilliantly directed film. That said, I saw it after knowing it was Clay’s top film of the year and having heard and read all sorts of hyperbolic rhetoric regarding how it was unlike anything that had ever been depicted on screen before (my personal favorite of all of these came from Chris Rock, who wrote on Facebook, “If you don’t see 12 Years a Slave you don’t deserve to have eyes.” 🙂 )
It’s not that the film isn’t a feat of filmmaking; certainly it is. But… better and unlike anything that I’ve ever seen before on the screen? Eh… not so much. The one truly exceptional scene is the one you cite in your post – the hanging scene. That was the moment in the film that struck hardest and resonated most.
On a completely different – and, I realize, odd and almost comical – note, I couldn’t help relating your observation about the use of the song in this film to the use of “Tiny Dancer” in Almost Famous. I would imagine this is the only two times those films will be held in comparison, so here goes… I think it’s a powerful moment when a song is used to not only move the scene but to develop the characters. Just as in 12 Years a Slave, choosing to sing the song means something more significant to Northup than might be immediately evident, so, too, does joining in the chorus of “Tiny Dancer” mean more to Billy Crudup’s (Russel Hammond – had to look that up; would never have remembered his name!) — okay – odd comparison of the day completed. 🙂
Ha! Just read Andrea’s comment; don’t suppose my new comparison will make her cut 😉
One of many parallels between 12 Years a Slave and Almost Famous, no doubt. 🙂
Regarding expectations, I too went into this film having heard the effusive, even hyperbolic, critical praise and yet the film managed to live up to the hype.
That’s because, despite my high expectations of the film’s quality, I had very different expectations of the film’s nature. I thought it would be a more typical Oscar bait-y movie, kind of like The Butler with chains.
So I was pleasantly surprised to discover how different from that it is in composition, content and tone. The comparison that leaped to my mind while watching the film was that if you had stripped the credits from the film and told me it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in There Will Be Blood mode, I would have believed that in a second. And that is not at all what I expected.
Of course, you all know how I feel 🙂 As far as expectations, I was completely expecting to be miserable–sort of like going to the doctor for an unpleasant medical procedure, and it didn’t disappoint. I do believe it’s an important movie, and the song you featured happens to be one of the scenes I did watch, and I found it to be moving. I, too, wouldn’t be unhappy if it wins some awards because it’s an important film, but just not why I go to the movies.