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12 years a slave

6 replies

Timeforanamechangey · 30/11/2015 12:39

Recently watched this and found it amazing in a good and a bad way.

I didnt really know anything about it when it first came out but after having seen it I felt really deeply affected by it.

The performances by the lead actors were all brilliant but the whole thing was just so brutal and cruel, so many utterly heart breaking moments.

Did anyone else like/dislike it?

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WowOoo · 30/11/2015 13:22

It's an amazing film. Some of it was really hard to watch, but I think that was the point.
I agree that it was very well acted. I wonder what other films Steve McQueen has made.

I like a film that really gets me thinking. I'm not sure I could watch it again, but I'm glad I did.

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batshitlady · 30/11/2015 15:07

I liked it. But in the end I was just left thinking something like - 'Oh god, how horrible it was back then? How appallingly racist some white people were and the system was. Thank goodness that's all over!

I thought 'Django Unchained' was better in comparison. With that film I was left thinking - 'bloody hell that's the way the world is - now - today and we're all a part of it to a greater or lesser degree.

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Timeforanamechangey · 30/11/2015 17:11

I've also watched Django unchained recently and thought that was a great film too, equally disgusting in the treatment of black people but a slightly different feel to 12 years a slave.

I think one of the things that made me think about it so much is that is was based on a true story.

Soloman Northup's tale was sad enough but I was actually more moved by the character of Patsy - her story and thousands of other's like her had a terribly unhappy ending. She was treated so appaulingly not only by the slave owner but by his wife who refused to give her soap to wash with and threw the heavy glass decanter at her head because she was jealous that her husband had feelings for her. What was wrong with the woman! Like Patsy had a choice in any of it!

And the woman who was seperated from her children, how callous everyone was to her. So sad :( It's incredible to think that's how people used to behave.

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MsAmerica · 05/12/2015 00:03

I thought it was a great movie, although I agree that some of it was hard to sit through. The really interesting aspect is how few - well, pretty much none - American movies there are on the subject, even though it's a crucial part of history. And the director and lead weren't American!