The true story of one man’s struggle to survive and liberation is the inspiration for the film TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE. A free black man from upstate New York named Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is kidnapped and turned into a slave in pre-Civil War America. Solomon fights not only to survive but also to maintain his honor as he encounters harshness (personified by a vicious slave master played by Michael Fassbender). Solomon’s unexpected encounter with a Canadian abolitionist (Brad Pitt) in the twelve years of his epic journey will forever change his life.
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The one-word title “Shame” would have been the ideal choice for Steve McQueen‘s third and most important film, “12 Years a Slave,” if he hadn’t previously used it for his previous film. This epic tale of an indomitable soul, which is based on the historical account of free black American Solomon Northup’s kidnapping and forced servitude from 1841 to 1853, makes Scarlett O’Hara’s sufferings look insignificant by comparison. Will viewers, however, have the stomach for a movie that exposes injustice? The extraordinary tale of Northup, as told by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is too captivating not to captivate American viewers and significant enough to generate respectable revenue elsewhere as well.
12 Year A Slave Release Date
The movie had a limited opening on October 18 in 19 cinemas in the United States before getting a general release in the coming weeks. The movie was supposed to come out in late December, but after “some enthusiastic test screenings,” the release date was changed.
12 Year A Slave Cast
- Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup / Platt
- Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps
- Lupita Nyong’o as Patsey
- Sarah Paulson as Mary Epps
- Paul Dano as John Tibeats
- Benedict Cumberbatch as William Ford
- Alfre Woodard as Mistress Harriet Shaw
- Brad Pitt as Samuel Bass
- Adepero Oduye as Eliza
- Garret Dillahunt as Armsby
- Scoot McNairy as Merrill Brown
- Taran Killam as Abram Hamilton
- Christopher Berry as James H. Birch
- Chris Chalk as Clemens Ray
- Rob Steinberg as Mr. Parker
- Paul Giamatti as Theophilus Freeman
- Michael Kenneth Williams as Robert
- Bryan Batt as Judge Turner
- Bill Camp as Ebenezer Radburn
- Tom Proctor as Biddee
- Jay Huguley as Sheriff
- Storm Reid as Emily
- Quvenzhané Wallis as Margaret Northup
- Dwight Henry as Uncle Abram
12 Year A Slave Plot
A strikingly accurate and credible depiction of the everyday slave experience in the antebellum (pre-Civil War) South of the United States is given in the book 12 Years a Slave. Basic details about the period, the locations, the characters, and the customs of the day are woven into Northup’s narrative, occasionally in exaggerated detail. He speaks with authority on every aspect of his servitude, mentioning people by name and pointing to significant locations along the way. By doing this, he challenges critics to contest his tale since he knows that public records and widespread awareness would support it.
For instance, when Northup claims that a depraved slave trader held him hostage in Washington, D.C., he not just to names the slaver but also the slaver’s collaborator, pinpoints the location of the slave pen, and provides a thorough description of the slave pen’s physical features. The outcome? That slave merchant was unable to refute holding Northup hostage in that now-exposed slave enclosure during the subsequent trial that took place after Northup had been set free. Additionally, 12 Years a Slave has maintained its prominence as a trustworthy historical source on slavery for more than 150 years after it initially came out thanks to its authenticity and accurate information.
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A timeless critique of the crime of “indentured servitude bondage,” or human slavery, is found in the film 12 Years a Slave. A warning to coming generations about the moral costs that slavery exacts from all parties involved is given by Northup’s description of the abuses he experienced and those he was compelled to administer. The slave is ruthlessly degraded, subjected to excruciating torments, and deprived of material, psychological, and spiritual treasures. The slave does not, however, suffer in silence. The master is morally and emotionally desensitized by engaging in slavery. His faith is turned into hypocrisy. His family’s history has been stripped of fundamental human virtues like fairness, compassion, and honesty.
12 Year A Slave Review
The film 12 Years a Slave is a testament to the resilience of hope and the strength of the nature of humanity. Solomon Northup is tricked, abducted, abused, separated from their family, stripped of his identity, and battered into a protracted, exhausting, unjustifiable acquiescence. But he never breaks. He never loses faith that he will one day be free, not even in his darkest hours spent suffering at the hands of Edwin Epps.
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He rarely loses hope in his comrades and is continually confident that they will come to his aid if he can just send the word to the North. They also do. In the end, Solomon Northup’s tragic path is uplifting because it shows via his narrative that faith and hope are resilient and can even succeed.
