12 Years A Slave

12 Years A Slave is a a terrifying, harrowing, awe-inspiring film, in a word it is beautiful. Based on the book written by Solomon Northup about his experiences in life from his kidnapping in 1841. Like pretty much everyone, I had high hopes for this film, it has received so many awards and there is so much hype around it that I was prepared for a pretty dramatic experience. In my opinion, it very much deserves everything it has won and more. It is so emotional and I challenge anyone to not be moved by it at some point. Although I have to admit, For the first hour or so, it didn't seem quite as dramatic as I expected, but looking back, from the opening scene, the film struck a chord in me and I was so deeply moved by the story as it came to an end I was almost speechless. The cast as a whole are just amazing, Fassbender never seems to do anything wrong these days, he plays the evil Epps so well, it's ugly, it's frightening and it's truly powerful. Chiwetel Ejiofor is so so wonderful as Solomon, his face is so expressive and his soul so raw, you can't help but become so wrapped up in his story. Everyone in it is fantastic, portraying the world in a really magical way. I said to mum on the way home, I have to remind myself with films like that that it really happened, films are usually so fictional that we allow ourselves to be pulled in as a form of escape from reality. But for these people, this was reality, they were stuck in situations so bad that it is frequently stated that death is better than life for them. I read in one review that years after Solomon's book was published, Epps came forward and said that it was all true. That's terrifying to me. How can people have been treated like that and believed it was okay, that it was just a part of life. Ugh, gives me the shivers.
I just also have to mention the cinematography because that really struck me as well. Steve McQueen creates some of the most beautiful shots I think I have ever seen in a film. Moments of tranquility and beauty in such a terrible time, close ups of Chiwetel that draw the audience in even further than they already were. I just really loved how the movie had been shot and created.
Have any of you seen this? What did you think?

Becca.