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original or that I (or any regular movie goer) hasn't seen before.
But, an extremely intense experience because this film is different in one crucial regard: it is unrelenting. We experience for the entire film the world of the slave, after first briefly seeing his free life. The shock deepens and intensifies as the horrors mount, seemingly without end.
At the end, it was impossible not to have a strong feeling of revulsion, of white-hot anger, and other emotions all smashing against one another.
And the title delivers one of the greatest shocks: 12 years a slave was not only a fraction of what a typical slave endured---- the slave trade began in this country in 1619. That's a quarter of a millennium of enslavement. Roughly 250 years, until the Civil War. And then…. the situation hardly improved as Jim Crow and Reconstruction laid the foundations for the situation we encounter, today.
Well deserving of the year's best film, if one values art as a means of powerful communication.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
Just got it out of Red Box and wrapped it up a few minutes ago. I was determined not to see it but finally had to capitulate after all the reviews here. I personally did not see ONE Oscar performance in the entire film. If anything, Fassbinder or Ejiofor deserved an Oscar over the best supporting female who was hardly in the film. The film looked to be made on the cheap but then again it reflected the reality of the time. Not everyone had a magnificent, sparkling white mansion.I was surprised that Benedict Cumberbatch helped put a more forgiving face on the plantation owner. According to an article contrasting the book to the movie this bears out.
Give it a few years and this will be the 21st Century's 'Mandingo'.
Edits: 05/02/14
"Mandingo" is in really poor taste.
The guy who thought it funny to mention, "Blazing Saddles," similarly was borderline, but he was trying for humor (I wonder if he'd humorously reference "Wet Hot American Summer" to "Shindler's List").
Edits: 05/03/14
slave porn and partly for those reasons I didn't want to see it. I don't think I said anything controversial. The Academy has a long history of rewarding "social causes" over art and craft. How 'Gravity' got all those awards is beyond me since it was mostly digital.One other thing: Who fact checked Northurp's book before it was published? Harriet Beecher Stowe? Point is we see so many films in our lifetimes that are attributed to the experiences of one person when we don't know what really happened. Eg. 'Django' gave an accurate portrayal of slavery because somebody knew someone whose great, great grand daddy lived it. See? If it sells, produce it. This goes for anything.
I really wish film makers would concentrate on promoting harmony not discord.
Edits: 05/03/14 05/03/14
irregardless of what one other critic said. I gave you a reason why your comparison was so out of place; again, would you reference the Jewish theme comedy in a Schindler review?
I'm not a fan of Hollywood's penchant for films about social issues du jour, but slavery is hardly that, is it?
You need to get hold of your emotions once and for all. "12" was an average movie with average performances. I'm not sure where your fertile imagination gets "humor" and "The List".
You need to take a time out until you can be a good citizen.
I said that would be tantamount to comparing a Jewish comedy to Schindler's List.
Would you do that?
Why not?
Is it because you're living in Mississippi?
You're a stereotype and don't even know it, sometimes.
If Mandingo were directed by Spielberg, we would have had another Color Purple and an Oscar. But all pale imitations of Roots.
Bill
It may well not have been 100% reflective of the vast majority of slave's experiences, i.e., a well respected black man living in the north tricked and then kidnapped and sold into slavery. However, if my passage into Heaven were determined by whether I chose correctly as to the truthfulness of Northrup's story, I'd choose truth. Maybe I'd be wrong, but like I said, it had the ring and feel of truth about it.
I don't see story telling of a sad moment in a nation's history, i.e., slavery, jewish persecution, burning of witches, beheading of "heretics", etc., as promoting discord. To the contrary, showing the horrors of those actions to the current generation should help raise awareness of what wrongs can be wrought by prejudice and ignorance. Just my $.02 and probably very poorly said....
Oh yeah, in the interest of promoting the harmony thing, I couldn't agree more about Gravity? Fun? Yeah. Academy Awards? WTF????
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"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
Hope you left the young one at home.
Mrs. Nasty hasn't seen it, this may be a good weekend to rent it for her.
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"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
(she's a very good self-editor) at several scenes, but she felt it was very worthwhile.
Myself, I had a nightmare (seriously) last night that was film related.
Never recall that happening before.
"Amistad" certainly portrayed the Middle Passage realistically.
fsd
...as realistic a portayal of American slavery on film?
And don't tell me "Roots" which was a TV show.
There may be books with more realistic portrayel of slavery but not many movies. Such typical roles, getting whipped, caught while trying to escape, bossed by mean low lives. And then there are slaves with wide grins, great singing, strict nanny to the white kids et al. And then there are lynchings, KKK, impartial judges, Jury and all. Show Roots in the movie houses to put an end to all these new movies.
Bill
would reveal that it still wasn't really accurate--- only more so than previous efforts.
What of the terrible yellow fever and malaria (and debilitating worm and other parasitic diseases) that commonly devastated the slaves forced to live next to the swamps and lowland marshes--- the owners placed their estate homes often on rises where breezes could sweep away the insects (though they had no inkling they were often disease carriers).
Imagine being crowded into tiny hovels with open windows when the sun went down. Anyone that has lived in the South knows that thick clouds of mosquitos descend upon any warm-blooded animals--- and the torment from that alone would be intense.
Of course, the amount of sexual license (including child abuse) also was underplayed--- what was to keep any of the slave masters from raping at will? It wasn't just the owner the slaves had to fear.
But, just like any Holocaust film, the truth just cannot fully be shown or no one would make it past the five minute mark.
Nt
...you'll be mentioning Mandingo.
not really
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