12 Years a Slave

The Book

This is not a work of fiction but a true narrative of a free man who was kidnapped into slavery in 1841.
As such it provides a unique insight into life and conditions on Southern USA plantations. The memoirs are factual and give information on how cotton and sugar were grown, how Solomon's fellow slaves lived and how he was treated.
It had little emotional description and avoids pity and anger at his captors following his ordeal, perhaps to avoid litigation. Solomon, himself, brought legal action against his abductors, but they were never brought to court and Solomon never received any compensation for his twelve years in slavery.





He is at pains to point out that as well as vindictive and bullying masters such as Epps or Tibeats, there were those who treated their slaves with care and charity such as William Ford and Mistress McCoy. He expresses strong opinions on behalf of his race that the oppressor is deceived if he thinks that the whip and chains can keep the slave from rising up and overthrowing the master.
The one point in the account which is hard to stomach, is the way in which Patsey, a woman used by her master for sex and despised by her Mistress as a result, is mistreated, eventually leading to Solomon being forced to lash her staked figure until the skin is flayed off her back.  
It is a record of remarkable survival and endurance, but sadly just one of untold thousands who did not have a means of escape or better life to strive to get back to.



 Official film site


The Film

It starts with a few time shifts - we first see Solomon as a slave working in the fields and rejecting the advances of a woman (in order to remain faithful to his wife it is then revealed) and again when he wakes in chains in a dark empty cell, then retraces how he was drugged and tricked into slavery. The film settles down to a straight retelling of the true events as laid out by Solomon in 12 Years a Slave.
I did not find the film any more emotional than the book, which is strange. I felt indignation and anger at the way one human could treat another by telling themselves that they are an inferior, but the only lump in the throat comes at the end with Solomon being reunited with his family and learning about his abolitionist campaigning and support for runaway slaves.




The director, Steve McQueen, is a master of the long lingering shot. Each one aims to engage with the observer and provoke them to thought, whether it is the almost unbearable scene where Solomon is left what seems interminably long hanging on tiptoes while all the other slaves turn a blind eye (even children play in view) until you want to shout someone please cut him down, or the burning glow of embers as his letter and his hopes of rescue fade. Often it is used as an opportunity to convey Solomon's inner monologue without the speech - you can tell that after Old Tom has been buried, his determination to remain hopeful of freedom returns as he begins to join in the singing and Solomon's woeful looks to camera after speaking to Bass convey his hopes and fears of salvation following a previous betrayal.  
All of this wouldn't have worked without the amazing acting talent of Chiwetel Ejiofor, who thoroughly deserves his Oscar nomination.