An ultra-dad
‘12 Years a Slave’ is a movie I shouldn’t have watched. Watched just to enrich my knowledge of Hollywood Oscar movies, this film ended up being an ultra-dud with me squirming in my seats every now and then and trying to look out of screen with every possible distraction. It’s like a school student feeling restless during his exams where even staring at tube light feels like a miracle. That’s how I felt staring out of my screen.
It’s a kind of film which ‘Bala’ would have made great use of with all the violence and shock value. But giving it a more human approach and making a docu drama kind of film spoilt the guilty pleasure of even that. I’m sure you might be feeling that I’m talking like one of the whites back then who doesn’t give a damn about the blacks. But its not that. As much as my sympathy lies with them, making use of it and directing a film which no one could call it ‘bad’ is just bad, because that’s judgement too. Judging is bad no matter where.
‘12 Years a Slave’ begins with a group of slaves with a blank stare without knowing what’s in store for future. We immediately get to know about their lifestyle through the work they do. The Solomon Northup/Platt (Chiwetel Ejiofor) we see is a man who’s already retired to the life of a slave, who all live together, man and woman, without any differentiation, in a closed hut. Man, woman, sexuality, passion and every other human emotion doesn’t stand a place there as they all are kept as mere animals in a shed. They too don’t have any feelings for each other. Like in the future scenes, if one gets lashes, the other washes the utensils. If one gets hanged to death, the other gets ready to plough. There is no remorse to feel sad/bad and no energy left with them to protest.
In one such scenario when they were sleeping, the lady next to him initiates sex with him and quickly wades off. Partly due to tiredness and partly due to sadness. We get to see the flashback of a man who lived. A violinist by profession and living an eclectic life, he gets tricked into slavery by a couple of too sweet white men. His first tryst with William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch) is not so bad, under the circumstances. Benedict plays an easy, good guy here. But his stay there is short lived as the carpenter there, John Tibeats (Paul Dano) doesn’t like him. Even though Ford saves him in the nick of the time, he couldn’t have him further due to the fear of being outcast. Quite a normal guy, him, that Ford, who feels bad for separating the mother from their child but doesn’t have the guts to bring all three. Quite understandable, given the circumstances.
Once sold to Epps (Michael Fassbender) he gets the complete meaning of slavery. Platt has to suffer the sadomasochist master in the form of Epps who regularly rapes Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o) who in turn has to undergo the hatred of Epps’ wife Mary (Sarah Paulson) too who is a bigger psychopath of the two and abuses her time and again due to jealousy. On such incident nearly makes Epps whip her to death which by far is the cruelest scene of the movie which would make anyone who had restrained till then, break!
After a failure to reveal his identify by taking help of a white man Armsby (Garret Dillahunt), he finally takes help of Samuel Bass (Brad Pitt) who’s able to deliver the letter and bring in the sheriff to free him. He’s so tired that he just walks off to freedom without any celebration. Even though he knows that Patsey has to undergo the same fate in future too he couldn’t help but run out to the stage coach as if a thirsty man drinks water. All he needs at that time is freedom and nothing is tastier than that.
Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a fine performance, especially the time he sings a song for the dead, such superb acting. Other than him the good guys don’t really have scope to do anything and they don’t improvise as well. It stays true for both Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch. But the bad guys are terrific. Be it Michael Fassbender or Sarah Paulson. Even Paul Dano who appears for such little time has so much impact. I’m sure anyone who had seen the movie would remember the bad guys act and good peoples face. May be that’s why stars were employed as good guys, because, otherwise those scenes would go off insignificant.
This is a movie which could have been better off as a book where the slowness would have worked as an immersive factor. Whereas in the movie, the impact gets minimalized. It’s only the events which hits hard but as a film it’s such a lull.
constantscribbles 