12 Years a Slave (DVD REVIEW)
12 Years
a Slave
DVD Review
by Kam Williams
Best Picture Oscar-Winner Out on DVD
Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) was a black man born free in upstate New York in 1808. A skilled carpenter and
fiddler, he and his wife (Kelsey Scott) settled in Saratoga Springs where they were raising
their children (Quvenzhane Wallis and Cameron Zeigler) when their American
Dream turned into a neverending nightmare.
For, in
1841, he was approached by a couple of white strangers (Taran Killam and Scoot
McNairy) who offered him a high-paying job playing music with the circus in Washington, DC.
However, upon arriving in the Capital, they instead sold him to a slave trader
(Christopher Berry) who put Solomon in chains before shipping him to a cotton plantation
the Deep South.
What ensued
was a 12-year ordeal during which he was whipped whenever he attempted to protest
his plight. Despite being tortured by a sadistic master (Michael Fassbender) determined
to break his spirit, Solomon managed to not only maintain his sanity but his
dignity to boot.
Furthermore,
with the help of a kindly Canadian (Brad Pitt) passing through town, he was
eventually able to inform abolitionists up North of his dire predicament, and
was ultimately reunited with his very relieved family. Upon his emancipation in
1853, Solomon also penned and published a memoir chronicling the cruelty of his
captivity in explicit detail.
Entitled 12
Years a Slave, the book became a runaway best-seller before it slipped into
obscurity after the Civil War. Directed by Steve McQueen (Hunger), the screen
version proves to be a fairly faithful adaptation of the eye-opening autobiography.
Unapologetically
graphic in its depiction of the institution of slavery’s evils, 12 Years a
Slave is a heartrending tour de force for the ages which recently won a trio of
Academy Awards. Besides Best Picture, it landed Oscars for John Ridley and
Lupita Nyong’o in the Adapted Screenplay and Supporting Actress categories,
respectively.
A sobering
slave narrative recounting a recorded, real-life case of inhuman bondage.
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated R
for violence, torture, sexuality, nudity and ethnic slurs
Running time: 134 minutes
Distributor: Fox Home
Entertainment
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Extras: The Team; A Historical
Portrait; and a theatrical trailer.
To see a trailer for
12 Years a Slave, visit:
To order a copy of the 12 Years a Slave Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack,
visit:
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