![]() ![]() Or there is the moment in the shop of the (paradoxically named) slave dealer, Theophilus Freeman (Paul Giamatti), when a bewildered Northrup plays his fiddle as a family of slaves is divided among different “customers.” Nevertheless, from a theological point of view, there is no more paradoxical figure than William Prince Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch, excellent as usual) - a Baptist preacher and farmer, who purchased Northrup in 1841. For example, in one early scene, a slave named Clemens Ray (Chris Chalk) runs like a child into the arms of his master, petrified that he will be sent to another (presumably more cruel) owner. Indeed, for the most part, McQueen is content to observe what, for lack of a better word, might be called the “paradoxes” of the slave trade. ![]() With that said, the quieter moments of 12 Years a Slave merit equal consideration. With each crack of the whip, the human beings involved are reduced to something less than human, and so, like Schindler’s List before it, 12 Years a Slave becomes something more than a “movie.” It is a witness to human tragedy. ![]() ![]() It is the sort of scene that garners a film an Oscar, gathering all of the atrocities of the slave trade into a single, unforgettable moment. There is a scene, late in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, which makes the horror of slavery painfully manifest: Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) - once a free man but now a slave in the employ of Louisiana plantation owner, Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender) - is forced to lash his fellow slave and friend, Patsey (Lupita Nyong’o). ![]()
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