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Post by Atreides on Oct 28, 2013 18:03:11 GMT -4
Yeah, I agree with you guys on all points. I was particularly struck by Chiwetel's eye acting. There are scenes where he doesn't say much but his eyes "speak" volumes about his suffering. The cinematography is also gorgeous, as if the director wanted to show Hell set in Paradise.
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Post by Martini Girl on Nov 6, 2013 1:12:48 GMT -4
I almost had to leave the theater towards the end of Paul Dano's story arc because it was brutal; just brutal, brutal. Instead I rolled up into a ball in my seat and put my fingers in my ears until it was over.
My favorite scene was the end (which I won't spoil), and when Solomon beats the living crap out of Paul Dano's piece of sh*t character. The film also left me in a philosophical quandary. I believe in forgiveness, and truly feel that holding onto anger is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die. Having said that, I wanted very bad things to happen to most of the white characters, with emphasis on the ones played by Dano, Fassbender and Paulson. There's a part of me that hopes they burned in hell after being tortured for their crimes against humanity.
I know Fassy is a good actor, but I'm beginning to think there's a little bit of his character in him. The "he's hot" totally vanished after watching this. Even "good people" like Cumberbatch's preacher still fall short on the humanity scale. A truly wretched piece of human history.
My heart cannot withstand this film again, but it's beautifully made.
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Post by kostgard on Nov 6, 2013 1:25:12 GMT -4
Gah! This movie has finally come to my city, but it is only at the artsy-fartsy theater downtown and I don't want to pay outrageous movie ticket prices AND parking to go see it. The slow way they are rolling this movie out is really frustrating.
I'm glad that it seems the movie doesn't pull any punches. That was truly the ugliest chapter in this country's history (along with what we did to the Native Americans) and it should be portrayed as such.
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Nov 28, 2024 5:29:56 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 8:52:13 GMT -4
I know Fassy is a good actor, but I'm beginning to think there's a little bit of his character in him. The "he's hot" totally vanished after watching this. Even "good people" like Cumberbatch's preacher still fall short on the humanity scale. A truly wretched piece of human history. My heart cannot withstand this film again, but it's beautifully made. I agree with all of this. I don't know if I'll ever be able to find Fassbender attractive again, his character was so awful. And I'm never going to be able to watch this again. I didn't realize I was holding my breath during Paul Dano's arc until it ended. |
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Post by bklynred on Nov 8, 2013 13:53:26 GMT -4
I was told by someone who knows me well not to see this solo...and I don't plan to.
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Post by forever1267 on Nov 18, 2013 2:08:26 GMT -4
"Don't worry. In time, you'll forget your children" - White mistress to her new female slave.
Jesus, this movie was excellent but harrowing and unrelenting. Powerful, haunting, horrific, truthful. Highly recommended but exhausting.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 24, 2013 13:59:17 GMT -4
I saw this yesterday and I'm still thinking about it. It was so powerful and devastating and unsentimental. I was glad this movie was called 12 Years a Slave because it let me know that there was an end point to his slavery. It certainly didn't seem like there would be an end his suffering for a lot of the movie. Of course all I could think of when it was over was all the other people who were not so lucky. Poor poor Patsey. The acting was incredible across the board although Brad Pitt was a tad distracting. I wish that McQueen would make a companion piece to this focusing on female slaves. All the women in the movie-Eliza, Patsey, Alfre Woodard's character were so fascinating. Of course that movie would probably want to make me slit my wrists. I know Fassy is a good actor, but I'm beginning to think there's a little bit of his character in him. The "he's hot" totally vanished after watching this. Even "good people" like Cumberbatch's preacher still fall short on the humanity scale. A truly wretched piece of human history. My heart cannot withstand this film again, but it's beautifully made. One of the more ridiculous criticisms of this movie I have heard was that there were not more "good" white characters in the movie. Which, I mean really? Yes where were the nice people who bought and treated other people as property? I actually thought the movie did a good job of showing that even though there were owners who treated their slaves more humanely like Ford, there were still limits to their kindness. Slavery wasn't just the act of a few racist rich guys. It was integrated into the fabric of society. It would take an extraordinary person to oppose that. It makes sense that the one "nice" white guy was from another country. I don't know what it means but the audience at my showing were 90 percent seniors. I was amazed that nobody walked out of the movie. There were a couple of scenes where I had to avert my eyes. I wish I could have covered my ears too. |
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Post by Coffeecakes on Nov 26, 2013 3:47:55 GMT -4
I saw this yesterday and I'm still thinking about it. It was so powerful and devastating and unsentimental. I was glad this movie was called 12 Years a Slave because it let me know that there was an end point to his slavery. It certainly didn't seem like there would be an end his suffering for a lot of the movie. Of course all I could think of when it was over was all the other people who were not so lucky. Poor poor Patsey. The acting was incredible across the board although Brad Pitt was a tad distracting. I wish that McQueen would make a companion piece to this focusing on female slaves. All the women in the movie-Eliza, Patsey, Alfre Woodard's character were so fascinating. Of course that movie would probably want to make me slit my wrists. I know Fassy is a good actor, but I'm beginning to think there's a little bit of his character in him. The "he's hot" totally vanished after watching this. Even "good people" like Cumberbatch's preacher still fall short on the humanity scale. A truly wretched piece of human history. My heart cannot withstand this film again, but it's beautifully made. One of the more ridiculous criticisms of this movie I have heard was that there were not more "good" white characters in the movie. Which, I mean really? Yes where were the nice people who bought and treated other people as property? I actually thought the movie did a good job of showing that even though there were owners who treated their slaves more humanely like Ford, there were still limits to their kindness. Slavery wasn't just the act of a few racist rich guys. It was integrated into the fabric of society. It would take an extraordinary person to oppose that. It makes sense that the one "nice" white guy was from another country. I have yet to see the movie, but that is something I've been waiting to see and thought would never see from a Hollywood movie. Where there isn't the token saintly white person who is oh so devastated and behind closed doors is the nicest person ever. |
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Post by Martini Girl on Nov 27, 2013 2:21:32 GMT -4
Coffeecakes,
You will not find one ounce of sentimentality here. It's one of the reasons my heart broke. My advice is to just steel yourself for an intense 90 minutes. I think people should definitely see this film.
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Post by kostgard on Dec 1, 2013 4:38:51 GMT -4
Finally saw this today and I agree - people should see this. It's kinda heartbreaking that more people aren't seeing it and it isn't doing better at the box office.
It's just stomach-turning to think about how this shit really happened. The stuff at the slave auction? Totally true - the kid running in place to show his health/energy? Totally happened. Stripping slaves down? That happened too - not just so potential buyers can see their physique/health, but to show off a lack of scars or a low number of scars - a slave with few or no scars was a good, obedient slave who didn't need to be whipped often.
And man, Cumberbatch's character was frustrating. Sure, he was a "good" slaver in that he was nice to his slaves, preached to them and gave them gifts, but he kept slaves. And any protest of poor treatment of slaves from him was pretty damn weak. But worst of all was when Solomon was telling him about his plan to use the water to move the lumber. Solomon was supposed to be a runaway slave from Georgia, but he was telling Ford about working on the Champlain canal, which is absolutely NOT in Georgia, and is in fact in New York where they didn't have slavery at that point, and he talked about getting paid and leading his own team on the work - all a big flashing neon sign that said "I AM NOT A SLAVE. I AM A FREE MAN." And Ford just ignored all that and instead was all, "Hey! Great job! What a good idea you had! Here's a violin and a reminder that you will be with me for years!" Layer in Paul Dano's character standing there, seething in jealousy and rage as Ford praised Solomon and I could barely stand it.
Weirdly, the scene that really made me cry was when Solomon started to sing along with the others at the funeral. It was both touching because he finally really felt a connection with his fellow slaves, but also heartbreaking because he had kept all those people at arm's length because in his head he was always screaming "I am not a slave!" and in that moment that all crumbled away and he was acknowledging "Yes, I am a slave."
Poor Patsey was heartbreaking from start to finish.
Mr. and Mrs. Epps were just about the worst human beings ever. Though, on a shallow note, I liked her earrings. I used to have a similar pair and I wish I knew where I put them. Nice and random seeing Bryan Batt in a small role. I miss him on Mad Men.
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