Went yesterday to see "12 Years a Slave." Excel...
Went yesterday to see "12 Years a Slave." Excellent, excellent film, though as my friend Robin observed, it does make "Schindler's List" look like "Mary Poppins." I suspect the brutality in the film bothered me less than it did some people because I've been reading about antebellum slavery for many years (including Northrup's account, which I read years ago when putting together the outlines for "Sold Down the River" and "Good Man Friday.") (It's largely because of Northrup's book that in "Good Man Friday," EVERYBODY is looking over their shoulders CONSTANTLY because yes, Washington DC was one of the main hubs for kidnapping rings that sold freemen south as slaves).
ZERO historical inaccuracies. There were a couple of interesting omissions - slaves frequently had ways of getting back at the white folks, very subtle forms of covert rebellion like damaging equipment, crippling livestock, and occasionally poisoning the master (though this was dangerous because a) you didn't know who his heirs would sell you to and b) you'd be burned alive in some states if you were caught). (In some states, in fact, if the master was proven to be poisoned, ALL the slaves on the plantation could be executed, but that law was repealled because basically then the dead man's heirs would lose all their salable property). At the very least the maid or houseboy who brought your breakfast to the table had probably spit in the oatmeal. No wonder the whites were twitchy.
Amazing acting. Gorgeous cinematography. It's about damn time Hollywood made a film accurately depicting slavery, and making that depiction the center of the film.
But like "Grave of the Fireflies," it's a beautiful, stunning film that I never want to see again.
ZERO historical inaccuracies. There were a couple of interesting omissions - slaves frequently had ways of getting back at the white folks, very subtle forms of covert rebellion like damaging equipment, crippling livestock, and occasionally poisoning the master (though this was dangerous because a) you didn't know who his heirs would sell you to and b) you'd be burned alive in some states if you were caught). (In some states, in fact, if the master was proven to be poisoned, ALL the slaves on the plantation could be executed, but that law was repealled because basically then the dead man's heirs would lose all their salable property). At the very least the maid or houseboy who brought your breakfast to the table had probably spit in the oatmeal. No wonder the whites were twitchy.
Amazing acting. Gorgeous cinematography. It's about damn time Hollywood made a film accurately depicting slavery, and making that depiction the center of the film.
But like "Grave of the Fireflies," it's a beautiful, stunning film that I never want to see again.
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