12 Years A Slave (2013)

Typically the subject of many a memorable High School  History class, the issue of slavery is one attempted by so few directors, and creators, with the last being Michael Apted's beautiful, and yet ultimately white-man heroic 'Amazing Grace'. A biographical drama, 'Amazing Grace' was both uplifting, and heartbreaking, drawing parallels from many a star-studded Holocaust trauma, but, did ultimately lacked the powerful statement of independence within the enslaved. So, whilst these films showed the bravery of a privileged against a privileged, '12 Years A Slave' did something different.
And they did it brilliantly.
Telling the true story of freedman's son Solomon Northup; '12 Years A Slave' shows the entirety of a rich, and all too kindly man dragged kicking and screaming into mistaken captivity, pulled away from his family, and into the brutal life of a slave named 'Platt'. Chiwetel Ejiofor (previously of Love Actually, RedBelt, and Children Of Men) plays an absolutely gut-wrenching performance in this, wiping all other characters out in his breathtaking portrayal of resolution, and hatred, and sorrow, and desire, and everything everyone thinks a slave should never feel. Ejiofor doesn't play the part, he is the part. He is himself in the worst of positions, and he never falters in this conduct, pulling everything out of his repertoire to do this role the justice it deserves.
Taken from heartbreak to heartbreak, he is beaten, bruised and bottled away, hiding any semblance of intelligence for fear of a use worse than endless cotton picking. Benedict Cumberbatch, too, plays a genuine role of sweetness and underlying goodness, something much needed in such a dark setting, with his very first line bursting forth 'have you no mercy, man?' before taking his place as Solomon's first master. A secondary reviewer of this film called his character 'perhaps the cruelest of them all', a line which embodies so much, as through his kindness and sympathy for his slaves, rescuing them from the unflinching gazes of murderous overseerer's, saving the children, respecting the men for who they are, he teaches them nothing of the real life they face. Cumberbatch's presence in the film is felt desperately by characters and audience alike, and it's with a genuine slight to the heart that Solomon is pulled away from him, and presented to his next owners.
Insane, and tyrannical, Michael Fassbender, and Sarah Paulson play married couple, Mr and Mrs Edwin Epps, and to the best of their abilities, they are villains. They are wicked, and evil, with no excuses made, and no sympathy to be found for them. Both play their roles fantastically well, though personally, I for one, will never quite look at Fassbender the same after this deadly performance.
For the one, small criticism I have; There is a sense that Pitt's role within the film has been overplayed heavily. Though he directs predominantly, it should be said that his actual character has very little screen time, and too few lines to be actually remembered as significant, so for those drawn to the film expecting a glorified Hollywood starlet performance, lower your expectations. It seems his name counts for more in the trailer, than his actual role in the film does.
However, from plotlines, to performances, and in setting, and symbolical meaning, it's a deafening watch, and it feels important, somehow, in today's world. Midst comedies, and love stories, and tragedies, this is a story, and it is a story that needs to be told, and watched, and understood; it is a film that will surely go down in history.