“I don’t want to survive. I want to live.” – Solomon Northrup
Number of Times Seen – 1 (1 Jan 2014)
Brief Synopsis – A free Northern Black man is kidnapped and forced to become a slave in South during the 1840’s.
My Take on it – This movie is currently being hyped as the best movie of 2013.
I agree that it is ONE of the best, I still feel that there are better movies that came out during this year.
This story is based on the memoirs of Solomon Northrup who was kidnapped and forced to be a slave on numerous plantations in the South for 12 long years of his life.
This movie doesn’t pull any punches and truly shows how the Southern Plantation Owners treated their slaves as property taking away their dignity and respect whenever possible.
This movie is no fairy tale and there are scenes of pure brutality that are hard to imagine really happened, but there are numerous accounts of these things happening.
This movie is a tale of hope that one day Solomon will be freed and return to his wife and children, but while waiting for that to happen, he must find the strength and courage to survive however he can.
Chiwetel Ejiofor is great here as Solomon, but I still think that Robert Redford’s performance in All is Lost (2013) is still better, this one is a somewhat close second.
This movie will probably get many awards because of it brutal honesty regarding its subject matter. As good as this movie is, it isn’t the Best of the year.
Bottom Line – Epic story based on a true event that definitely does what it’s meant to do. Parts are a bit choppy along the way, but still quite powerful. Excellent movie that shows the brutal ways slaves were treated in the South. A story of hope and survival. Not the best movie of the year, but definitely ONE of the best. Highly recommended!
Rating – Oscar Worthy
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MovieRob 
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I don’t have it as my best either (I like Wadjda more), but while this isn’t my favorite, it is close. McQueen crafts this movie so carefully, in every element of every shot. It is some of the best directing I remember seeing, certainly this year.
But it’s not as if we’re really disagreeing. You did call it Oscar worthy after all. 🙂
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As good as the directing is, I still think Cuaron will get the majority of the directing awards this season
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I do, too.
And it isn’t even that he doesn’t deserve them. I don’t like the score in Gravity, but so much of it is Instant Classic quality that Cuaron deserves whatever recognition he receives.
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We will continue to agree to disagree about the score aspect. I plan on watching it yet again in the near future, so I will once again try to see how it affects my viewing experience.
Yep, who woulda thought a movie abt astronauts could be considered instant classic 🙂
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Nice review. I know I SHOULD watch it (when it finally comes out in the UK). But I’m not good with serious dramas!
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looks like it’ll be a big winner at the awards this year, so maybe you should try and check it out 🙂
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