12 years a slave

12 years a slave 

It is widely known that this film, although widely controversial, is one of the best films to come out in the last five years. This may be partially because of its novelty in the film industry as it is not only based on a story written by an ex-slave –as opposed to the traditional written by either historians or white slave owners - but it also discusses an often overlooked reality of free black men and women being captured and sold as slaves for profit. I think this is often forgotten because it portray  the white person as a villain but it is more about the racist attitude of the villain that defers directors from choosing the topic.

I personally felt that was quite fast paced however, I feel that Solomon Northup's years as a slave had passed too quickly and I feel like the true strain, effort and monotonous routine that went into doing the exact same thing day in day out for months wasn't really portrayed as well as it perhaps could have been. instead the film went for the shocking aspects such as the beatings and other punishment of slaves, which granted was a large part of the slaves every day lives I feel the living conditions (where they slept, where they went to the toilet perhaps, how long they got in the day to do such things, free time they had if any) could have been examined more.

The reality of this film is a harsh one the shock at the life slaves lead to most people is what makes it so fascinating, as I mentioned previously. Many people see this film as the most accurate portrait of slavery, but it is a film and thus it's accuracy is limited because it's profit relies on success, it's important to remember that some parts may have been overdramatised (however this is less likely) and others may have been left out for the sake of time, and/or because they weren't interesting enough.

Overall the film was in my opinion excellent however should not be rendered the only experience of slaves or the only source to refer to as the experience of slaves because there was so many different circumstances for different people that went un-documented because the slaves that experienced it never learned to write it down.