12 Years A Slave

[yogi]

Hope you all enjoy this! I'm hoping I'll be able to catch it again!

I know what you mean, but I doubt anyone will really 'enjoy' this film - except maybe the person behind me who seemed to be saving there popcorn munching for some of the most brutal scenes?!

I thought it was excellent, couldn't take my eyes off the screen and found it genuinely gripping and powerful.

It will make you angry or emotional or both, but will definitely have an impact.

Thanks again to Diane65 for the tickets 8.5/10

[LondonCityNights]

Well I absolutely loved it, though I didn't exactly enjoy it. McQueen's directorial style is about as assured as it's possible to get. This is a film that grasps the nettle of what slavery 'is' - forcing you to confront the potential slave or slavemaster within each of us. It's about as good as cinema is possible to be. Here's my full thoughts.

http://www.londoncitynights.com/2014/01 ... steve.html

★★★★★

[caitlinmorton]

That is so not what I meant. Can't believe I wrote that. Definitely not enjoyable. I was mainly just dashing off something so the topic didn't have to be merged a second time.

I think appreciate was the word I was looking for.

[sikmansam]

I agree with you guys above, this wasn't very enjoyable but it was incredibly made and performed by its cast. I loved that Steve McQueen didn't overplay the emotion of Solomon's ordeal, and some of the imagery was amazing.

9/10

Here's my review:

[eumenides]

7/10. I hope Lupita Nyong'o wins big for her performance because she acts the pants off everyone else in this film. I think I'll only be watching this once as some of the scenes, particularly those involving Nyong'o and Fassbender were too brutal to relive. I found their particular relationship strongly reminiscent of Ralph Fiennes' Amon Goeth and Embeth Davidtz's Helen Hirsch from Schindler's List.

We had some walkouts quite a way into the film after [spoiler]Patsy got whipped for what seemed to last an age[/spoiler] and I guess that's fair enough and some poor individual had to keep coming in and out with coughing fits. The cinema staff were also in and out a lot to check no-one was filming - as if we were the assembled criminal elite ! 98% of the packed crowd were well-to-do pensioners and their thoughts were probably far from video piracy !

After the unpleasantness of Mitty at Bournemouth I appreciated the relatively well behaved Times crowd but I have never in almost 30 odd years of film-going been so damn hot in a cinema. The ambient temperature must have been into the late 40s.
Odeon, sort out the thermostat you swines !

[D-Fens]

I enjoyed it. I don't mind using the word because I expected it to be only a harrowing experience but there's a movieness to it that elevates it above similar films.

[raj101]

both horrific and riveting viewing, makes Mandela look like he got off lightly - just think about that.

[McG]

both horrific and riveting viewing, makes Mandela look like he got off lightly - just think about that.

Never thought of that, raj101! . . .but very true!

[superhero]

I didn't know how to react at my screening, someone yelled very loudly "Get off him"/"Get off her" during the beatings.
Some punters yelled "Shout the **** up", but I can empathize with how that person felt.

[chelle1973]

Looking forward to seeing this film. prob have to p*y tho! I just started reading the book and i'm a slowwwww reader!!