12 Years A Slave

[Cartedorlondon]

12 Years A Slave – what a powerful film. As the title is very self-explanatory, I will get straight into it! Make no mistake, humans really do the most horrendous, evil and nasty things to other human being, this film encapsulates every single negative adjective that you can imagine associates that very word, its so dark, so brutal, so visual, the sound, the cries, the pain, despair and suffering is real, thank god 3D is not an option.

A stellar cast of super actors and actresses – Chiwetel Ejiofor the lead, Brad Pitt, Mike Fassbender, Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard. Acting is flawless and “natural” given the subject matter, not to diminish the magnitude of the pain and suffering in anyway, but I personally thought being intentionally cruel and treating people as “my property”, which you would hear a couple times, that role in my opinion is the hardest of all. I guess if you cried for the poor and developed such hatred to the certain evil character, that gives you the indication of how well and believable the acting was throughout by all.

All the big names up there really only get very limited screen time, but each and every single one of them left such dramatic footprints. However, I must mention, Mr Pitt, once again, well done, your very few lines in the film meant just absolutely everything to many people, what an intense impact they made.

EVERYONE, you have to go see this film. There is so much I want to tell you but seriously, all you need to know is that this is so good, you just need to go see it for yourself. It is graphic and disturbing at places, so dont go bringing little kids to see this, go to bathroom before is good idea, its quite a long film, you will cry your eyes out, so bring tissues, please don’t go b*y a tub of popcorn or massive drink into the film, seriously, you will feel utterly ridiculous and stupid.

As you can see, all those stars from all those critics, yes, they are all true and this film truly deserves all of them and a few Baftas and Oscars.

[BoydJW]

This was the best film I've ever seen that I'll never be able to watch again.

My only criticism is the sudden appearance of Lt. Aldo Raine.

Other than that, I think it's a masterpiece and will become a classic.

[Celini]

Am I going crazy or did Zimmer recycle Shame's score?

8/10

[ayoaddy]

These good reviews make me want to watch it but unfortunately not a free screening of it. What's a filmaholic to do-_-

[ladylivvie]

Saw his last night and thought it was excellent. Brutal, and painful to watch sometimes, but you have to see it. It's not the sort of film that you can 'enjoy' but definitely one that should be seen by all, and ask ourselves why it has taken so long to get such an unflinching account of slavery of the big screen. Superb performances all around. 9/10

[chelle1973]

I am finding the book a difficult read! Heart wrenching and brutal, so brutal. How one human being could do that to another is beyond me! I find myself re-reading paragraphs in dismay. Think I'll wait til the film has been in cinemas for a while and the chances of me being alone in the screen higher!

[adymanc]

Looking forward to seeing this tonight, on Orange Wednesday.
Judging by the reviews it's a great, powerful movie.

[Diamond1]

I'm just back from seeing 12 Year a Slave and am bowled over by the performances of Fassbender and Ejifor. (hope the spelling is OK) Amazing! I can't say this is an enjoyable film because it's cruel, brutal and harrowing. It makes you wonder how awful we humans can be with each other! It's a must see film but it's not an easy film to watch.

[karenlg123]

I almost hesitate to post my review as I seem to be in the minority, but here goes anyway.....

Whilst I appreciate all the great acting, the emotion of the story, the fact it was a true life story and obviously was a horrendous time in history with uspeakable treatment of fellow human beings being very much the norm at that time and place, I quite simply (sorry) did not like this film very much at all. I am glad I saw it as it is an important piece of film making and an important piece of historical fact, but IMHO it was overly long and slow and I really didn't need to see so many close ups of the effects of the whippings.

I'm sure it will win a clutch of Oscars and probably deservedly so as far a piece of cinematography is concerned but this particular movie was just not for me.

5/10

[ilovethatfilm]

Blown away! Beautiful and harrowing. Can't see how this won't clean up at the Oscars!