12 Years a Slave

This is a true story of a free black man, a man that had all the equal freedom of a white man in the 1800's, all the luxuries, he was well taught, was an excellent violin player and knew how to read and write, lived in a nice house.. he was free, one day he was tricked to play for money by two white men who got him drunk and sold him into slavery. He was kidnapped, and the heart-dropping adventure begins there. This movie is unlike other slave movies, it's no BS, it's based on real events in this man's life.. this is a true story, based on a memoir written by Solomon Northup and the detail is truly eye opening. I say that every American should see this with an open mind, put yourself in Solomon's shoes, for a few hours, watch this movie, and see the torture and pain black men and women had to go through in those times. There are a lot of people here that say "this movie is boring", i say no, this movie is full of adventure, it keeps you intrigued with how the story will end, a lot of close calls for Solomon.. this is truly worthy for an oscar, and is truly worthy of you to watch.. it's extremely educational, eye opening, and jaw dropping.. but be warned, reality bites. If you're white, you might cringe, but WATCH IT! It is an excellent film for all types of men and women, I suggest that kids under the age of 13 shouldnt watch this film, as there is a lot of violence, blood, gorish scenes, rape scenes, and nudity, and course language. I can't recommend this film enough, you will appreciate freedom and what you have a lot more after watching this. As for people who might think this is bias against white caucasians, no, there are a lot of amazing and non-racist white people in this film, one of which saved Solomon's life. So please don't think this is an anti-white film, it's truly not. This is reality, unfortunately.

After reading an article about Texas's social studies textbook curriculum and how the text glossed over the horrors of slavery with rationalizations and under lying themes like " Slavery wasn't ALL bad"...i found this movie especially meaningful. From the heart wrenching story of a successful American wrenched from his happy life with his family to the pathetic unhappiness exuded from the white slaveowners ,there was no good in slavery except from the people who actively participated in abolishing it. I got more of a sense of how families were ripped apart, people dealt with guilt, anger festered ,and struggle for power was present within all society's hierarchy. For example, one poor white man ( recovering alcohalic) seemed to form a trusting bond with Soloman after he nursed Soloman's woinds and revealed his past and future goals to " return to his home). Soloman gave him his savings of money as an offering to help him leave the Plantation cotton field work alongside the slaves in return for simply mailing a letter for Soloman to his family. Well, clearly the poor alcohalic white man working with slaves still considered himself above them because he took Soloman's money and told his owner about the letter. In other words, White Men, no matter how poor,unvirtuous or immoral ,still had more freedom than an educated skilled , family oriented man who just happened to be black. The acting was incredible: Fassbender was convincing, Lupita is an artist in physique and in character, The actor playing Soloman let me into his character's soul. Instead of a Disneyfied social studies book a student would get a lot more out of watching this movie. It made me sad that such a powerful country founded on Great Ideas and Values would have ever been as uncivilized as to have encouraged this way of life. I am grateful it has ended legally,but we are still smarting from the after effects. We are paying for it even now in so many ways. I am thankful to have been able to watch this movie. Thank you, Mr. McQueen, for your impact. Note: I did read some of the one star reviews, and now I am curious to read the book to compare.

I really enjoyed the movie. It did get a little slow in the middle but I eventually finished watching it because I fell asleep.

Not for the faint of heart. Great movie

I watched "12 Years a Slave" tonight, or should I say cried through most of it. A brutally painful, difficult film to watch, at the same time impossible to turn away from. As much as I have ever known about the atrocity of slavery in this country, nothing really prepared me for the intensity of this film. It is incomprehensible to me, hard to wrap my mind around, the fact that in this country, these things actually happened, that slavery festered like an abscess for so long as part of the history of this country, and that the vestiges of the "peculiar institution" continue to linger to this day, poisoning the hearts and souls of so many Americans who have the audacity to try to apologize and defend and minimize the profound impact it had on so many lives, and continues to have. To describe the film as emotionally powerful is to not do it justice. Steve McQueen is a brilliant director, unflinching as a storyteller, who has succeeded in eliciting from his actors some of the most powerful performances I've seen on film. McQueen makes frequent use of very long screen shots, holding the camera on the subject far longer than one would expect, often to purposely draw the viewer into the agonizing brutality of a scene, but just as often to focus on the raw emotion of a human face who has lived through unspeakable things no one should every have had to live through. The result is at once absorbing and intensely discomforting. McQueen spares us nothing in his portrayal of the barbarously cruel and complete affront to human dignity that was slavery, nor should he, nor should anyone....a film this raw and honest in its portrayal of one of the darkest volumes of our history as a nation, was a long time coming; far too long, I think. This is not a film that anyone should miss.

ある自由権の人が黒人というだけで奴隷とされ売られて行きます。そして鞭打たれ人間以下扱いをされていました。さて、この人はどんなに過酷に強いられても希望があるから、生きて帰ろうとします。もう売られてしまうのかと思っていました、しかし、そんな中である伯爵みたいな人が受取人としてその人を買い戻しにきます。売る方もひきません。しかしその人がよし、そんなに言うならこのリストのものをすべて払え❗とその人がしたひどいリストがかかれてます。それか、その人をおれによこせ！そいつは俺のだ。俺が受取人だ。そしてこの人は自由権があるから自由なのだ。と言いあなたは奴隷ではない。もう自由なのだ。自由に生きることができる。と希望を捨てなかった人は自由になれました。どんなにひどくされても希望は持ち続けましょう。なぜなら、希望は失望に終わることはないからです。辛い時あきらめないでいましょう。そこには希望があるからです。

Excellent movie.........its an award winning movie so there are no comments regardiing the movie.......but i have purchased this dvd in amazon lightning deal and the DVD didn't work at all and it has so many marks......so returned this product and amazon also issued refund to me.......its a must watch movie......

A great story can't believe how cruel people could be, so very moving

Excelentes imágenes, muy buen trama, la recomiendo

Wahnsinns Film, zeigt die harte Realität der Zeit