Well, as expected 12 Years A
Slave has won the best film award at Oscars 2014. Not that the other films
were not competitive enough. What made the difference perhaps was the human
touch of the film and the way the director has handled the narration, without
allowing the subject to become a heightened melodrama, despite the story
lending itself to it.
Director: Steve McQueen
Film Clip
The film is apparently based on a real life story and loosely hewed
on the book of the same title. The events occur in the mid-19th
century when slavery was considered normal in the US. However, the protagonist
in the story had to face a double whammy as he was kidnapped and forcefully
made a slave and he remained in that state for 12 years. More than the physical
pain, it is the humiliation and sheer helplessness he went through which make
the audience resonate sympathetically with the theme. That is when one realises
how precious freedom is and how devastating it is when freedom is robbed from
people who are born free and who believe that they are born ‘in the image and
likeness of God’.
There have been several films that deal with the theme of slavery.
In fact this film reminds of another classical Amistad which was a poignant tale of slave trade and had a much
bigger canvas. (Incidentally, the
protagonist Chiwetel Ejiofor had played a role in Amistad). However, 12 Years A
Slave stands out for its straight forwardness sans glamour and for not
making it a spectacle of brutality that slavery was, even while conveying the
message powerfully.
Full marks to director Steve McQueen. Lupita Nyong'o rightly deserved the award for the Best Actress in a
supporting role.
- Melwyn Pinto SJ
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