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What Is The Theme Of 12 Years A Slave By Mcqueen

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What Is The Theme Of 12 Years A Slave By Mcqueen
12 Years a Slave is a historical drama film directed by Steve McQueen based on the life of Solomon Northup and his memoir Twelve Years a Slave. The film was released on October 18, 2013, starring award-winning actors and actresses, Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, Lupita Nyong’o as Patsey, Brad Pitt as Samuel Bass, and Benedict Cumberbatch as William Ford. McQueen received near-universal praise by audiences and critics for McQueen’s directing, the acting, and the dedication to depicting Solomon Northup’s story. McQueen received several awards for the film, including Academy Award for Best Picture, 3 Oscars, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture, and the BET Award for Best Movie. The budget for the movie was an estimated $20,000,000, …show more content…
Although cotton was not the only crop produced in the South-fortunes were made on sugar and rice in Louisiana and South Carolina-it quickly became the most important. With the aid of the cotton gin, the South produced more than 330,000 bales annually by 1820. The dramatic increase of cotton planted and harvested each year was followed by a jump in the size of the slave population. The international slave trade ended in 1808 but southern planters greatly increased the number of slaves they had as the need for planting and picking …show more content…
The population of free slaves began to increase after the American Revolution, making free blacks easy prey for kidnappers. Once kidnapped, it was nearly impossible to regain your freedom. Freedom papers were destroyed and on the rare occasion that the papers were taken to court, the judge would dismiss them as forged. Northup was one of the few victims of the crime to regain freedom from slavery, having been rescued from a friend in New York.
The movie 12 Years a Slave does a tremendous job on the 1853 autobiography ‘12 Years a Slave’. The actor portraying Northup, Chiwetel Ejiofor, does an exceptional job, making you feel as if the man is Solomon himself. The movie closely followed the events in the book, from the scars on Northup’s face to the accurate display of the horrid Master Epps. The movie feels so authentic that you do not feel the need to make sure the information is correct. But of course, the movie had a few details were altered and simplified to fit the
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