Look, no one said this was going to be fun for anyone involved, okay? This is a fairly remarkable story about human endurance and the atrocities of mankind, and while it may not be “enjoyable” or “entertaining,” it still may be essential viewing for many people, whether they be cinephiles or people who just need a quick reminder of where we’ve come from, as that helps see where we need to go. No, no one said “12 Years A Slave” was going to be a cinematic walk in the park. But then again, maybe that’s the very reason why it should be seen.
This is based on the very true story of Solomon Northup, a man from New York in pre-Civil War America who was drugged, kidnapped and sold into slavery in the South, where he spent the subsequent twelve years of his life living as a slave named Platt. This is the story of his survival and the horrors he saw while in this horrible position. Being a free and educated man at the time of his kidnapping, he had the skills necessary to relate his story when it was all said it done, get it down in writing in the form of his memoir, one which was subsequently fact checked and deemed as accurate by scholars over one hundred years later, so what we have here is a first person account of one of the most troubling and disturbing chapters of our American history.Continue Reading …