Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Chiwetel Ejiofor | ... | ||
Dwight Henry | ... | ||
Dickie Gravois | ... |
Overseer
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Bryan Batt | ... | ||
Ashley Dyke | ... |
Anna
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Kelsey Scott | ... | ||
Quvenzhané Wallis | ... | ||
Cameron Zeigler | ... | ||
Tony Bentley | ... | ||
Scoot McNairy | ... | ||
Taran Killam | ... | ||
Christopher Berry | ... | ||
Bill Camp | ... | ||
Mister Mackey Jr. | ... |
Randall
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Chris Chalk | ... |
Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty personified by a malevolent slave owner, as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life. Written by Fox Searchlight
It's rare that a movie lives up to its hype, even rarer that the hype is transcended by the actual achievement. 12 YEARS A SLAVE does both. Aided by powerful performances and cinematography, director McQueen exposes the barbarity of dehumanisation, of treating people as property. Reviews focus on the brutality on display, and it's true that the film is not easy to watch, with its powerful juxtaposition of sublime scenery and human degradation. But to me the final scene is the most powerful of all: we are party to the kind of raw emotion that in the hands of lesser artists could easily descend into tawdriness or sentimentality. Here, as in the rest of the film, it is raised up high, as high as cinematic art can go.