12 years a Slave, directed by Steven Mcqueen, describes about a true story of one man’s long way back to freedom.
Soloman Northup as one educated violinist and carpenter is tricked by two kidnappers, and then was sold to William Ford as a black slave called Platt. Because of his good behaviors and nice works, he was preferred by Ford. However, Tibeats hates “Platt” and tries to kill him, but he failed. After this, Ford sent Platt to Epps to save his life from Tibeats(Ford also sent him to Epps for paying his debts).
Epps treats black slaves cruelly and ruthlessly. He thrashes slaves because the amount of cotton that is reaped by them is not enough. Among of them, a woman called Patsey could collect cotton as many as two men does. She is preferred by Epps, however, she is often raped by Epps and abused by Epp’s wife. After seeing Patsey’s life, Platt feels pity for her and determines his mind to survive.
After then, Platt meets a white man, Armsby. Platt considers him as a good guy and pays him to mail Soloman’s friends in New York. However, Armsby pretends to accept his request and he actually reports to Epps that Platt wants to escape. Fortunately, Platt successfully fools Epps by his smooth talk. He feels despaired and burns the letter, his only hope, to cinder.
In the last section of the movie, Platt meets a Canadian carpenter Samuel Bass. Bass disagrees with the slavery and believes everyone should be free whether they are black or white. Platt trusts him and asks him to write a letter to his friends in New York. Bass accepts. At the end of the story, Mr.Parker(a shopkeeper in Saratoga) receives his letter and proves Soloman as a freeman in Saratoga and brings him back home after 12 years.
“What difference is there in the color of the soul?”
Samuel Bass
The main theme of this movie is freedom. After being sold as a slave, Soloman never gives up. He suffers and bears all those pain in order to set himself back free. Those scars on his back are the best evidence. There are a few scenes which show Soloman staring at somewhere far away for a long time. They indicate Soloman’s desire of freedom.
Humanity is the second big part of the movie. Nearly every character with a name in this movie expresses a kind of person or a part of the society. Soloman is a man in hole; Ford has the sympathy but he could do nothing to help; Epps is a ruthless upper-class landlord; And Patsey is a downtrodden underclass worker. We can see that all those characters represents the different treatment to different classes.
After seeing an old slave died from overwork, the other slaves prepare a funeral ceremony for him. A song called “Roll Jordan Roll” is sung during the ceremony. In Bible, Moses brings slaves to Jordan, but they didn’t cross the river. He considers those slaves will live with servility for the rest of their lifes. Therefore, they bring up their sons and daughters and let them cross the river to construct the new world. In the long history of black slaves, Bible is always used to shape their mind and maintian their servility. Soloman doesn’t join them to sing at the start, but he sings after all. He maybe considers he has no chance to escape or he memories his kids and wife. No matter what he’s thinking at that moment, it must be a sorrow. This reality makes Soloman suffer for years that he finally joins them to release his depression.
12 years a Slave is chosed as one of the best 100 movie in 21 century. It is rated 8.1 in IMDB which is a extraodinary score. From my perspective, this movie is totally worth watching. I highly recommend this movie.
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