Tuesday, February 16, 2016

12 Years a Slave (2013)


Academy Awards, USA 2014

Won
Oscar
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Brad Pitt
Dede Gardner
Jeremy Kleiner
Steve McQueen
Anthony Katagas
12 Years a Slave (2013) became the first film directed and produced by a black filmmaker and also the first to be written by an African-American (John Ridley) to win the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Lupita Nyong'o
Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
John Ridley
Nominated
Oscar
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Michael Fassbender
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Patricia Norris
Best Achievement in Directing
Steve McQueen
Best Achievement in Film Editing
Joe Walker
Best Achievement in Production Design
Adam Stockhausen (production design)
Alice Baker (set decoration)

Fox Searchlight Pictures
Directed by Steve McQueen
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(Blu-ray, Regency/Fox)

A free black man in New York accepts a travel invitation to DC with a couple of business partners, who end up drugging him and selling him into slavery. He is sent to Louisiana where he spends the next 12 years in a living hell. Torture and rape are common at the hands of his owners, who dehumanize their slaves as mere property. He manages to eventually sneak out a letter to his family, who send lawyers to release him and reunite them. Vividly acted and directed, there has perhaps never been a film that shows slavery so realistically, but a painful, sorrowful experience.

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