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12 Years A Slave: Historical Film Review

Hannah Dadles

United States History to 1877

October 19, 2016

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12 Years a Slave, a true story written by Solomon Northup, was a very fulfilling

and accurate representation of what actually occurred during the times of slavery.

According to the article Bringing the Slave Narrative to Screen, it states that but

every page pulsates with the ring of truth. 1 This film gives examples and replicates how

slaves were treated around the time of 1841. I believe that the film 12 Years a Slave was

a very precise representation of the time period being portrayed.

The film began with the life of a free man. Solomon Northup was enjoying his life

with his children and wife, doing everyday what he loved, playing the fiddle. When an

opportunity arose for Solomon to play the fiddle for two very important men, Solomon

was filled with joy. His life that was once harsh and brutal was now turning around and

becoming something more. What Solomon had thought to be a chance of a lifetime,

ended up being a trick. That night, Solomon was invited to dinner with the men to talk

about the plans for the future. Solomon was having a great time until he woke up the next

morning to find out that he had been kidnapped. He found himself chained to the wall

covered in dirt. The men came in the cell laughing and making a fool of Solomon;

Solomon was renamed and now referred to as Platt. Platt reminds them that he is a free

man and that he should not be here, but the men did not care. They continued to laugh at

him and started to beat him. Later on in the movie we watch Platt be sold to his first

master. Platt gets bought and is shipped to the plantation where he will spend hours of

unappreciated work, where he will drown in tears and blood and where he will fight for

1 Doherty, Thomas. 2013. Bringing the Slave Narrative to Screen: Steve McQueen

and John Ridleys Searing Depiction of Americas Peculiar Institution. Cineaste 39,
no. 1: 4-8. Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed October 20, 2016).

his rights. During the film Platt gets moved around to different owners over the years

finding himself on a plantation where his life would be saved during year twelve. A

Canadian man named Samuel Bass was a gift from God for Platt. They sat down together

while in the field, and Platt told him his story. Samuel was the first person to listen to

what he had to say. Samuel felt very bad for Platt, so he wrote a letter to Cephas Parker

and William Perry, who lived in Saratoga to explain what happened. They contacted a

lawyer who traveled to Louisiana with Platts free papers. The men realize that it was

Solomon, and that he is to be released and to be taken back to where he can live his free

life. Solomon then returned to his home where his wife, two children, a grand baby and a

son in-law welcomed him. The film ends with Solomon telling his story and becoming a

well-known speaker at abolitionist rallies.

The film 12 Years A Slave is intending to recreate the life of Solomon Northup

and to show the immoral life that slaves lived. This film did a great job with detail and

including the gruesome scenes, though there were many scenes recreated that were not in

the book of Solomon Northups. Not that anything added was inaccurate, but Northup

just didnt say it. The directors purpose of adding in extra scenes was to demonstrate bits

and pieces of events that could have happened to any slave.2 These events did occur in

other slaves lives, just not Northups. The filmmaker did a great job of not leaving out

the blood and tears to help the film fulfill its purpose. In the article Slaves, Fetuses, and

Animals, it states, like a noxious bloodsucker, the slaveholder feeds on the life, body,

2 "How 12 Years a Slave Gets History Right: By Getting It Wrong." The Atlantic.
October 28, 2013. Accessed October 20, 2016.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/10/how-em-12-years-a-slave-em-
gets-history-right-by-getting-it-wrong/280911/.

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and capacities, of the enslaved.3 This statement tells us readers that slaves were treated

like animals. There was no sympathy, no care in the world of how the slaveholders

treated the slaves. Masters would beat them until they die; they would suck the blood

right out of their bodies and not feel any pain for them. In the film 12 Years a Slave, the

filmmaker did exactly that. They showed us how each slave was horrible treated. They

showed us the blood, the tears, and the agony. This was a hard film to watch because of

how real it felt. 12 years a slave was a great film. I believe that the director did a great

job in casting the roles. The passion that it held was because of the actors, each and every

one of them had so much heart for conveying the message of slavery and I believe that

was a very big strength that this movie partook. I believe that it did a phenomenal job at

portraying the real message and not covering up what actually happened like most films

in our time era do.

12 years a Slave was a film based on a true story written by Solomon Northup.

Solomon, who was a very good observer, recreated his life in a story of how life for

slaves was, on a Louisiana plantation during the 1840s and 1850s. The story gives very

good descriptions of the harsh labor that was put upon slaves.4 Though this is a true story,

there could be many possible ways for film directors to get it wrong. There are so many

3 Hart, William David. 2014. Slaves, Fetuses, and Animals. Journal Of Religious
Ethics 42, no. 4: 661-690. Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed October 20,
2016)

4
David Fiske, Clifford W Brown, and Rachel Seligman, Solomon Northup: The
Complete Story of the Author of Twelve Years A Slave.. (n.p.: ABC-CLIO, 2013),
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gezXAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&d
q=12+years+a+slave+film+purpose
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brutal aspects to the lives of slaves, but for the most part, the film portrayed a very

accurate representation. Learning about slavery and looking through textbooks, I have

seen many examples of the types of clothing slaves and slave owners wore. The slaves

wore ragged old dirty clothes and the masters were very clean cut and sharp clothing. The

purpose of this is to show greater power towards the slaves. 12 years a slave did a very

good job of replicating the clothing schemes. During the times of slavery female slaves

were taken advantage of. Filthy men that were the masters would rape and sexual assault

females that worked on their plantation.5 The woman would have no choice but to not

say a word, and let the master do what he pleased. In this film they do not leave out by

any means the corrupt ways woman were treated. The filmmaker made sure that they

included everything, so that we would really understand how bad these slaves were

treated. This tells me that the director made sure he fulfilled the purpose of the film and

made it as true as possible. Another connection between the film and real life was the

time period. The film director kept in mind of the time era and how life was lived. They

didnt have cars back then, which in the movie was represented with horse and buggies.

They also made the towns and homes realistic for the time and place. The town, in which

Solomon lived, was not modernized. This setting helps us feel as though we are there

with the characters. I have found many articles that state the reality of this film. Unlike

other films, 12 Years a Slave did not leave any of the gruesome parts out. The director

wanted us to get a realistic picture of what actually occurred during the times of slavery,

and he did a very good job of representing that.

5 David Barry Gaspar and Darlene Clark Hine, More Than Chattel: Black Women and
Slavery in the Americas (n.p.: Indiana University Press, 1996),
https://books.google.com/books?
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12 Years a Slave was a very fulfilling film. It had all the characteristics of a five

star rating. This film won an Oscar in 2014 for many different reasons. That just tells you

how truly amazing this film really is. Learning about past history and what our world

used to be like is very important for understanding what is going on today. Watching a

movie for more than just entertainment is usually not as fulfilling, but 12 years a Slave

was so much more. It made me realize how hard life was for many people and it made me

rethink how I treat people. Everyone is equal and disserves a chance at life. 12 Years a

Slave portrayed exactly what it needed to. It took direct examples from Solomon

Northups real life and recreated them. This film was a very accurate representation of

how slaves were miss-treated, during the times of slavery.

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Bibliography

David Barry Gaspar and Darlene Clark Hine, More Than Chattel: Black Women and
Slavery in the Americas (n.p.: Indiana University Press, 1996),
https://books.google.com/books?

David Fiske, Clifford W Brown, and Rachel Seligman, Solomon Northup: The Complete
Story of the Author of Twelve Years A Slave.. (n.p.: ABC-CLIO, 2013),
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=gezXAQAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=
PP1&dq=12+years+a+slave+film+purpose

Doherty, Thomas. 2013. Bringing the Slave Narrative to Screen: Steve McQueen and
John Ridleys Searing Depiction of Americas Peculiar Institution. Cineaste 39,
no. 1: 4-8. Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed October 20, 2016).

Hart, William David. 2014. Slaves, Fetuses, and Animals. Journal Of Religious Ethics
42, no. 4: 661-690. Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost (accessed October 20, 2016)

How 12 Years a Slave Gets History Right: By Getting It Wrong." The Atlantic. October
28, 2013. Accessed October 20, 2016.
http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/10/how-em-12-years-a-
slave-em-gets-history-right-by-getting-it-wrong/280911/.