Telluride ’13: 12 Years a Slave

12yearsaslave
**½/****

starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano
screenplay by John Ridley, based on the book by Solomon Northrup
directed by Steve McQueen

by Walter Chaw With performances this good, with a
director this astonishing, the only thing that could make it less than
transcendent, I'm afraid, is source material so well-respected, so revered truth
be known, that it limits the places the cast and director might otherwise go. What
I'm saying is that the prospect of Steve McQueen making a slave narrative is
one to savour, celebrate, induce chills in the hearts of every serious scholar
of cinema as experiential philosophy–and the prospect of Steve McQueen adapting
Solomon Northrup's (as related to white lawyer David Wilson) 12 Years a
Slave
is one to inspire some level of inevitable disappointment. What I
expected was to be blown away by Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor's
performances–and I was. What I didn't expect was to be disturbed by a few
instances of manipulation of the document that seem driven by something other
than good faith. Why, for instance, would one portray the death of a black
conspirator on a slaver ship bound for Louisiana at the hand of a white crewman
about to rape a sympathetic figure, when the document reveals this conspirator
was taken by smallpox? For the sake of drama? Were the roles reversed, this
kind of narrative manipulation would take on a decidedly different hue.

At the end of the day, the problem with 12
Years a Slave
is that it's neither fish nor fowl: neither a Steve McQueen
film the equal of the abstract existential artistry of his Hunger and Shame,
nor a straight costume adaptation without room for challenge. If we can agree
that slavery is inarguably among the most despicable things one human being
inflicts on another–a stain indelible on our national character that lingers
to this day in the bland ignorance of people like Paula Deen and her
supporters–then we can proceed to a conversation about how 12 Years a Slave
is a prestige film poised to gather awards for its subject and handsome
presentation, and not necessarily a prestigious film.

Solomon (Ejiofor) is a freeman living in
the North who, through trickery, he is abducted by slavers and sold into
servitude for the titular twelve years. Among his owners are benevolent Master
Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), psychotic Master Epps (Fassbender), and Epps's
harpy wife Mary (Sarah Paulson). The film, as episodic as the source, tells of
how Solomon perseveres while presenting conspicuous, invented platitudes like
"I don't want to survive, I want to live" that announce it as not
just a John "Red Tails" Ridley construct, but also an
unfortunate betrayal of 12 Years a Slave's opinion of its audience. How would the film differ with McQueen scripting, as he did his other
films? What if the picture had trusted silence rather than indulged in broad
gallows ironies? Consider, too, that Northrup's narrative recalls that during
his time borrowed out to Judge Turner (played by Bryan Batt in the film), he
was transferred:

"from
the field to the sugar house, to act there in the capacity of driver. From the
time of the commencement of sugar making to the close, the grinding and boiling
does not cease day or night. The whip was given me with directions to use it
upon any one who was caught standing idle. If I failed to obey them to the
letter, there was another one for my own back." p.194

Northrup's role as
"driver" is diminished in the picture, referred to briefly as
"finding favour" by the despicable Epps and glossed over in the most difficult sequence, the torture and humiliation of poor Patsey
(a fine, thankless Lupita Nyong'o). The ethics of using Patsey as the sole vehicle
to further Solomon's moral compromise is itself a moral compromise. In the
book, Solomon whips her around forty imes–in the movie, and I didn't count, I'd
say it was around ten. With the picture earning praise for its unflinching
approach to violence, this sure feels like a flinch to me. When Patsey calls
out, "I'd rather it was you, Solomon!" in something that is again a
Ridley invention, it has shades of Paul Verhoeven's savage satire of prehistoric
patriarchal attitudes Starship Troopers, with "at least I had you, Johnny" escaping from a girl soldier's blood-flecked lips as she expires. Worse in some
unnameable way is that the description of Patsey, post-devastation, as seen by
her master as a "valuable and handsome animal" becomes on screen a
description of Solomon. I don't believe that you should transfer
martyrdoms–there's something essentially ignoble, not to say
unnecessary, about that.

Lost, too, are all
of Solomon's references to what he saw as the simpleminded servility of
slaves–a theme that recurs as he, in madness, praises his tormentors, in
particular the infernal Mistress Epps, who despite being "possessed by the
devil, jealousy" (which caused her to act like a serial-killing high-school
prom queen), still "[had] much in her character to admire." (p.
198). Much is made of Northrup's sense of humour in the book–if the film is
funny at all, I missed it. It would've greatly benefited 12 Years a
Slave
if it had, in fact, something like that sense of perspective about
itself.

12 Years a Slave is fascinating, ambiguous, sometimes contradictory,
always incendiary, but 12 Years a Slave is absolutely tireless in its
beating of the anti-slavery drum. No one in their right mind would argue that
slavery is good, so, really, taking that as a given, what else is 12 Years a
Slave
saying? For me, what it says loudest is that Steven Spielberg
would have directed this movie if he hadn't instead bought the rights to The Color
Purple
. I actually wish he had made it, if only to leave McQueen to do another, more personal
project; failing that, the hope now is that the film's inevitable awards-season success (the rapes and whippings are decidedly tame compared to other
church-group/book club-Bible study classics like The Passion of the Christ
and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) means that someone as unbelievably
gifted as McQueen will never have to be a gun for hire again. Every technical element
of the picture is very good; it's also strident and obvious, so given to pontification
that when saviour Bass (producer Brad Pitt) arrives with a speech delivered
more or less faithfully from the record, it lands not with the freshness it does in the book, but with deadening weariness born of repetition. It's a very good
movie that is neither special nor particularly challenging, not distasteful
enough to inspire balking, and not riddled with ambiguity (like Django
Unchained
, for instance, which places uncomfortable fingers in every
exposed ingress), engineered in many ways for maximum middlebrow payload. Hunger
and Shame were mimetic where 12 Years a Slave is diegetic.
Find in there all you need to know of its looming popularity, the irony being
that I hope it serves to set McQueen free for his next go-round.

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18 Comments

  1. Jonny

    This guy saw a completely different film than me. 12 years a slave directed by steve Mcqueen is a masterpiece.
    “Why, for instance, would one portray the death of a black conspirator on a slaver ship bound for Louisiana at the hand of a white crewman about to rape a sympathetic figure, when the document reveals this conspirator was taken by smallpox? For the sake of drama? Were the roles reversed, this kind of narrative manipulation would take on a decidedly different hue. ”
    Because it was to show the brutal reality of the time. It was necessary because it was common. It is the truth of slavery so I hardly find it manipulation.

  2. Jonny

    This guy saw a completely different film than me. 12 years a slave directed by steve Mcqueen is a masterpiece.
    “Why, for instance, would one portray the death of a black conspirator on a slaver ship bound for Louisiana at the hand of a white crewman about to rape a sympathetic figure, when the document reveals this conspirator was taken by smallpox? For the sake of drama? Were the roles reversed, this kind of narrative manipulation would take on a decidedly different hue. ”
    Because it was to show the brutal reality of the time. It was necessary because it was common. It is the truth of slavery so I hardly find it manipulation.

  3. Jonny

    This guy saw a completely different film than me. 12 years a slave directed by steve Mcqueen is a masterpiece.
    “Why, for instance, would one portray the death of a black conspirator on a slaver ship bound for Louisiana at the hand of a white crewman about to rape a sympathetic figure, when the document reveals this conspirator was taken by smallpox? For the sake of drama? Were the roles reversed, this kind of narrative manipulation would take on a decidedly different hue. ”
    Because it was to show the brutal reality of the time. It was necessary because it was common. It is the truth of slavery so I hardly find it manipulation.

  4. @ Jonny: Typical response.
    As to what you quoted, it is manipulation, and a lie, because it’s not an accurate depiction of what happened. If a man (black) died of smallpox instead of the hands of a another man (white), but the director/producer/screenwriter writes it in a way to put blame on the man (white) then that’s changing history for entertainment purposes and emotions.
    But of course your “saw a completely different film” and “necessary because it was common,” statements tells me that you have no interest in truth, just emotions. Pathetic.

  5. @ Jonny: Typical response.
    As to what you quoted, it is manipulation, and a lie, because it’s not an accurate depiction of what happened. If a man (black) died of smallpox instead of the hands of a another man (white), but the director/producer/screenwriter writes it in a way to put blame on the man (white) then that’s changing history for entertainment purposes and emotions.
    But of course your “saw a completely different film” and “necessary because it was common,” statements tells me that you have no interest in truth, just emotions. Pathetic.

  6. @ Jonny: Typical response.
    As to what you quoted, it is manipulation, and a lie, because it’s not an accurate depiction of what happened. If a man (black) died of smallpox instead of the hands of a another man (white), but the director/producer/screenwriter writes it in a way to put blame on the man (white) then that’s changing history for entertainment purposes and emotions.
    But of course your “saw a completely different film” and “necessary because it was common,” statements tells me that you have no interest in truth, just emotions. Pathetic.

  7. Walter, very good review. You seemed honest in what you liked and gave credit. You also did something that movie critics rarely do when reviewing such movies like 12 Yrs a A Slave: You did not shy away from historical and book/narrative inaccuracies.

  8. Walter, very good review. You seemed honest in what you liked and gave credit. You also did something that movie critics rarely do when reviewing such movies like 12 Yrs a A Slave: You did not shy away from historical and book/narrative inaccuracies.

  9. Walter, very good review. You seemed honest in what you liked and gave credit. You also did something that movie critics rarely do when reviewing such movies like 12 Yrs a A Slave: You did not shy away from historical and book/narrative inaccuracies.

  10. Jonny

    @MidwestPride that’s not very kind to call someone pathetic. I go to the cinema for emotional truth in the narrative. This film is not a documentary or ‘This film is completely 100 percent based on”. The emotional truth is there.
    You must not like a single historical film or biopic. The majority of filmmakers change things to work in the spirit of the film and piece. Nobody knows what went on unless you were there. Nobody can recall a private conversation. It’s all made up. When I see one of Shakespeare’s history plays I don’t look for the many details that are incorrect. I am looking for the honestly of the piece. When I go see a ballet or opera based on a real person or real event I don’t rip a part the things that might not have happened.
    The book 12 Years A Slave is there. Part of the public domain. I read it as a separate work than what the film maker did. There are also 100s of non fiction slave narratives that are available in the public domain that show that what happened on the slave ship in Steve Mcqueen’s film is really true of the period.
    @MidwestPride I am sorry you didn’t like the movie. I thought it was transcendent but I wouldn’t call you pathetic for not agreeing.

  11. Jonny

    @MidwestPride that’s not very kind to call someone pathetic. I go to the cinema for emotional truth in the narrative. This film is not a documentary or ‘This film is completely 100 percent based on”. The emotional truth is there.
    You must not like a single historical film or biopic. The majority of filmmakers change things to work in the spirit of the film and piece. Nobody knows what went on unless you were there. Nobody can recall a private conversation. It’s all made up. When I see one of Shakespeare’s history plays I don’t look for the many details that are incorrect. I am looking for the honestly of the piece. When I go see a ballet or opera based on a real person or real event I don’t rip a part the things that might not have happened.
    The book 12 Years A Slave is there. Part of the public domain. I read it as a separate work than what the film maker did. There are also 100s of non fiction slave narratives that are available in the public domain that show that what happened on the slave ship in Steve Mcqueen’s film is really true of the period.
    @MidwestPride I am sorry you didn’t like the movie. I thought it was transcendent but I wouldn’t call you pathetic for not agreeing.

  12. Jonny

    @MidwestPride that’s not very kind to call someone pathetic. I go to the cinema for emotional truth in the narrative. This film is not a documentary or ‘This film is completely 100 percent based on”. The emotional truth is there.
    You must not like a single historical film or biopic. The majority of filmmakers change things to work in the spirit of the film and piece. Nobody knows what went on unless you were there. Nobody can recall a private conversation. It’s all made up. When I see one of Shakespeare’s history plays I don’t look for the many details that are incorrect. I am looking for the honestly of the piece. When I go see a ballet or opera based on a real person or real event I don’t rip a part the things that might not have happened.
    The book 12 Years A Slave is there. Part of the public domain. I read it as a separate work than what the film maker did. There are also 100s of non fiction slave narratives that are available in the public domain that show that what happened on the slave ship in Steve Mcqueen’s film is really true of the period.
    @MidwestPride I am sorry you didn’t like the movie. I thought it was transcendent but I wouldn’t call you pathetic for not agreeing.

  13. Jonny

    I would also like to add that I like Walter Chaw’s reviews even when I don’t agree with him. I find them intelligent and interesting. I read his reviews for insight and his opinion not just to disagree with him.

  14. Jonny

    I would also like to add that I like Walter Chaw’s reviews even when I don’t agree with him. I find them intelligent and interesting. I read his reviews for insight and his opinion not just to disagree with him.

  15. Jonny

    I would also like to add that I like Walter Chaw’s reviews even when I don’t agree with him. I find them intelligent and interesting. I read his reviews for insight and his opinion not just to disagree with him.

  16. Roger Standen

    Strange that nobody has mentioned Mandingo, a much-maligned and important work from the 70s.

  17. Roger Standen

    Strange that nobody has mentioned Mandingo, a much-maligned and important work from the 70s.

  18. Roger Standen

    Strange that nobody has mentioned Mandingo, a much-maligned and important work from the 70s.

Comments are closed