Twelve Years a Slave is a 2013 biographical period drama directed by Steve McQueen. It is based on a screenplay written by John Ridley which is adapted from the 1853 slave memoir Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup. He is a New York state-born free American-African man who gets kidnapped by two conmen and is sold into slavery until he is finally released twelve years later. This film is an uncomfortable watch and certainly doesn’t shy away from showing the crude cruelty of slavery.
This film follows the real-life story of a black man, Solomon Northup, (Chiwetel Ejiofor), or Platt if you will who gets abducted and sold to slavery. His new seemingly kind master, William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) is the only white man who is good-hearted and yet, a slaver. After Solomon’s little feud with a fellow white guy who works under Master Ford, he is forced to leave and go serve another master, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) who isn’t anything even remotely close to kind. He is the utter opposite and an accurate representation of the racist and oppressive system which was present at the time. And it’s safe to say it still very much is. Solomon is treated terribly and life becomes increasingly unbearable but he clings to his hope of being able to see his family again. Of being a free man again. Of not having to worry about getting a hundred lashes simply because his master woke up on the wrong side of the bed. He lives like that. As a slave for twelve years, after which his letter reaches his friends from New York who come and take him home.
One of the main themes, as you might’ve guessed is, of course, oppression. The concept of slavery is so deeply rooted in people, it’s almost impossible to get people to see the other way. Especially people who are raised with it. And although people now go on announcing how strongly they’re against racism, how much colour doesn’t matter, at the end of the day there’s no doubt almost all minds out there are at least once if not many more times guilty of having thoughts which very much tread on racism. We’re conditioned into believing that white is superior and good but black is dirt between our toes. Throughout the film, the theme of slavery is constantly reinforced. How he is enslaved on the ship and again transferred to a slave boutique. Black folk just made to stand naked like livestock, what’s worse? At least livestock is cared for but these are just meager slaves. Their life isn’t their own. It belongs to their master. And they simply obey. Because that’s all they’re allowed to do. The concept is ingrained in the minds so very deeply that even the oppressed aren’t aware of the oppression. They just accept it. Violence is one other theme that is displayed quite interestingly throughout the film. The beating scenes are long, the filmmaker wants you to look at it, hear each lash of the whip, notice the whip dig into the skin, and watch the person writhe in agony and at the same time look at the maddened face of the white man who gets more and more excited with each lash.
One of the most powerful scenes in the film has to be the near-hanging scene. It is an extreme long shot and as Solomon is hanging on for his life, the background is out of focus but the indifference with which people are still shown, going about their daily routine shows the apathy people harbour. They believe that the cruelty and sheer discrimination they receive is alright and perhaps even deserving. And that we can say is the courtesy of religion, for when the masters read the bible to their slaves it is only for the sole purpose of convincing them that the treatment they receive is ‘god’s will’. And that always works, doesn’t it? Want people to believe in something? Just add god’s will at the end and it is instantaneously justified and right. Faith can be a very dangerous thing.
The entire film has warm yellowish hues, especially when the setting is being established. The light is used in a clever way to evoke different kinds of emotions. The way the faces and the objects are lit up, and how the contrast of shadows and lights bring out the emotional relevance of the scene. One of the prominent things which makes the film an uncomfortable watch is a way the camera stays on the subject while they’re being subject to torture. You never know what might tick off the master or the manager of the farm and lead them to beat the crap out of the slaves. Especially when it’s Solomon and Patsy. The other thing is their expression when they’re getting abused, their cries of pain, their futile struggle to get out of restraints, and how the camera goes around to other slaves huddled around watching them, just watching and not doing anything. And lastly, how the camera never misses to close up on the aftermath of the torture the slaves are left with.
Although this film is set in the 1850s, it doesn’t give any solace. Slavery might be a relic of the past but racism and discrimination clearly aren’t. There are still plenty of Edwin Epps out there. Almost two centuries in and we still can’t shake off the bigotry. Says something about us, doesn’t it?
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