12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave (2013)
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%
Empire 301 (2014): #119
Director: Steve McQueen
Screenwriter: John Ridley

12 Years a Slave is an emotional powerhouse of a film. The film that swept up at the Oscars this year is for the most part a harrowing experience to sit through, as we follow the true story of Solomon Northup, a black freeman tricked into 12 years of slavery between 1841 and 1853. The film is supported by an exceptionally strong cast held together by the performance of a lifetime given by Chiwetel Ejiofor who in my opinion should have walked the Academy Award for best actor. The film is unflinching in its depiction of the systemic and organised racism and slavery of the time, and throughout the camera shots are crisp and occasionally disturbingly beautiful, as the beauty of the landscapes contrasts with the horrific acts taking place there.

The movie is also an extremely important one, and tackles the cruelty of slavery far more directly than the majority of films, mainly by the immersive  positioning of the camera that allows us to view the brutal whippings and torture suffered from Solomon's point of view. It feels at times, like a personal affront on the watcher, and it is impossible not to boil over with rage at his captors. Besides Ejiofor, none of the cast are present for the whole movie, and it is very much Solomon's personal odyssey. Lupita Nyong'o, who won an Oscar for her performance as Patsey in her first feature film, first appears only halfway through the film, as does the main antagonist, Michael Fassbender playing an alcoholic slave owner who forces himself upon Patsey and then punishes her for it. Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sarah Paulson also stand out in a star studded cast and give magnificent performances

The one slight criticism I have with this film, is the saviour figure of Brad Pitt, who is only introduced twenty minutes before the end and acts as a Deus Ex Machina figure responsible for Solomon's rescue. Pitt, who produced the film doesn't give a bad performance, but his character is so heroic that he feels slightly fake when contrasted with the people around him. The final half hour also feels slightly oddly paced, and Solomon's eventual redemption feels a tad rushed as the film reaches its end, especially when compared to a film with similar themes and setting, The Shawshank Redemption. There is no saviour figure  in the ending of that film. However, when we reach the end it is impossible not to be moved and as the hauntingly beautiful soundtrack plays, ending one of the best acting performances of all time by Ejiofor, who does more with his eyes than most actors can in an entire monlogue.

4 ½/5 

Good Will Hunting

Good Will Hunting (1997)

Empire 500 (2008): #433

Empire 301 (2014): #117
Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

Director: Gus Van Sant

Screenwriters: Ben Affleck & Matt Damon (Oscar Winners)

Good Will Hunting is a film about friendship, loyalty, genius and figuring out who you want to be. It aims to move, and it does. Starring and written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, it is easy to forget they were not the major Hollywood stars of present and the gamble it must have taken for them to be cast in the lead roles by a studio. Both give fantastic performances, as the struggling genius and his most loyal friend, but the cast is extremely strong all around. Robin Williams (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor) as the psychiatrist provides the emotional heart of the film and gives it depth, while Stellan Skarsgård, as the college professor that pulls Will Hunting out of his slump. Both provide some fantastic moments of drama and their broken relationship also serves as an interesting subplot, while Minnie Driver as Skylar is Will’s emotional core and is the synthesis of his past and present and his wants and needs, having fun with Will’s buddies and also being rich enough to be able to pay for her own college education. Crucially, all the characters feel ‘real’, and flawed but relatable, and there is no standard villain, just Will Hunting battling with his own ethics and conscience and attempting to avoid being shaped by those around him.

In that respect, Good Will Hunting feels very similar to Boyhood. Growing up, Mason is struggling to work out who and what he wants to be, while avoiding the attempts of others to shape him into a projection of themselves, and a similar theme runs through Good Will Hunting through the power struggle of Lambeau (Skarsgård) who is absolutely determined that Will seizes his potential for the sake of his own ego, and Maguire (Williams) who Will shares a background and upbringing with and sees him as projection of himself. This conflict proves to be the core part of the film, and (spoiler alert) in the ending in which Will drives off to California to try and reconcile with Skylar shows he has uprooted himself and moved on from his past, while simultaneously refusing to be shaped or changed by anyone else but himself, as he drives off into the distance for his own personal reasons, which have nothing to do with Lambeau or Maguire.

It would have been so easy for this film to have become overly dramatic or overblown and to have been a clichéd mess, but the performances, the directing and the screenplay all manage to avoid this, and pull it together to equal something emotional, profound and greater than the sum of its parts. The standout scene is suitably enough between the two screenwriters, Damon and Affleck as Affleck tells Will how lucky he is to have his ability, encouraging him to embrace his future, acting as the turning point for Will’s emotional state, and releasing all the emotion that has been steadily and masterfully built up in the audience. A lovely film

4½/5 Stars