’12 Years A Slave’ is the true story of a freed New Yorker Solomon Northup, who was kidnaped and sold into slavery. Northup, played by actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, was tricked into playing a violin gig in a borderline state during slavery and was kidnapped by the alleged promoters of the event. Once in the south, the freed New Yorker was stripped of his identity and sold into slavery, where he remain a slave for 12 years in Louisiana. I think this movie sends a very strong message to people of every race. It provides a true look at America’s past, an understanding to our new generation of their ancestors, and an answer the root of disfunction in our society. To read more and see pictures from the movie, click below.
Steven McQueen, the director of the movie, has his own ties with slavery. His ancestors were taken from West Africa during the slave trade. Here’s what McQueen had to say about his latest film and Northup’s memoir:
“I suddenly realized that nobody I knew heard about this book. So then it became my passion to tell this story. For me ‘12 Years A Slave’ is like ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ and should be taught in schools.”
A number of great actors participated in the making of ’12 Years A Slave’, from Paul Giamatti, Michael Fassbender, Alfre Woodward, and Lupita Nyong’o. But it is one Hollywood legend, who rescues ’12 Years A Slave’ on and off the silver screen … Brad Pitt! Samuel Bass, played by Brad Pitt, is responsible for helping Northup to regain his freedom. Pitt’s production company, Plan B, helped McQueen to make this movie possible.
Tension was so thick on set. Not only because of the Louisiana heat, but actors felt a weight on their shoulders because they were actually reenacting scenes from actual slaves, who endured the brutality, in the same spot! Actress Alfre Woodward said, “You can’t have that much human occurrence, without it staying in the air, staying in the trees”.
’12 Years A Slave’ debuts in New York theaters on Friday. Will you be going to see it? Do you think film makers should just leave slavery alone because it is too brutal?
