Saw this film about a month ago now, and it's still lingers in my mind from time to time.
It was one of the most powerful and haunting films I've ever seen, and I believe it's the single best film I've seen in maybe 10 years.
Ejiofor, Fassbender, and Nyung'o all give performances for the ages. Fassbender in particular is memorable for me because I honestly felt his character was maybe the most loathsome and disgusting character ever put on screen. I actually felt sick just looking at him by the end of the film, and Nyung'o's character was just heartbreaking and soul shattering. The
Spoiler:scene near the end was one of the most painful and difficult scenes I've ever watched in a film.
whipping
And with this film McQueen showed that he's arguably the best director on the planet. His clarity of vision for this film was beyond impressive, and his use of imagery to convey various things, that lesser directors would have conveyed lazily via words, was just so damn impressive, and his trademark lingering camera was used to devastating effect.
Yeah, just an incredible and brilliant film. Shame not more people know about it yet. Guess it's only a matter of time, when this film is nominted for a shit load of awards more will go see it.
Originally posted by BackFireWhere do you think it ranks among the movies of the last couple years? Anything better than it to you?
Saw this film about a month ago now, and it's still lingers in my mind from time to time.It was one of the most powerful and haunting films I've ever seen, and I believe it's the single best film I've seen in maybe 10 years.
Ejiofor, Fassbender, and Nyung'o all give performances for the ages. Fassbender in particular is memorable for me because I honestly felt his character was maybe the most loathsome and disgusting character ever put on screen. I actually felt sick just looking at him by the end of the film, and Nyung'o's character was just heartbreaking and soul shattering. The
Spoiler:scene near the end was one of the most painful and difficult scenes I've ever watched in a film.
whippingAnd with this film McQueen showed that he's arguably the best director on the planet. His clarity of vision for this film was beyond impressive, and his use of imagery to convey various things, that lesser directors would have conveyed lazily via words, was just so damn impressive, and his trademark lingering camera was used to devastating effect.
Yeah, just an incredible and brilliant film. Shame not more people know about it yet. Guess it's only a matter of time, when this film is nominted for a shit load of awards more will go see it.
Agree with you on his "lingering camera effect". Worked great in multiple areas. But do you really think his filmography warrants the label of best director on the planet?
I haven't seen Hunger yet but Shame wasn't great.
No, I can't think of a better film that was made in the last few years. No Country for Old Men might be the last one I saw that I felt was in the same league.
I thought Shame was quite good, Hunger, less good. But the jump in quality from Shame to 12 Years a Slave is pretty headspinning, I think.
And when I say this film shows that he's arguably the best director on the planet, I don't really mean in regards to his filmography. I just believe this film was an extraordinary achievement in filmmaking that shows just how hugely talented he is. One of the biggest issues with both Shame and Hunger was the emotional distance between the main character and the audience. With 12 Years a Slave that was erased, and to me it felt like McQueen really just clicked with his material this time and put more effort into telling a great story instead of really focusing purely on the images, which is what it felt like he was doing in Shame and Hunger.
Just caught a second viewing. Instant masterpiece. Honestly, one of the very best movies I've ever seen. I'm struggling to think of a better film in the last few years.
Munich, The Dark Knight, Inception, Inglourious Basterds, etc. I think this film MIGHT be better than all of them.
Seriously, everyone go support it. Ejiofor and Fassbender killed this movie.
Caught this last night, a very solid piece of film all around; highly recommend you catch this one on the big screen.
My only two real complaints and they're not huge ones:
-Pitt's accent wasn't very good, was hard to place since he was playing a Canadian who had lived in the US for decades, but it felt overly forced and took you out of the film.
-One actress's crying, again, felt forced and took you out of dismal surroundings and plight of the slaves/Solomon.
Backfire nailed it in regards to Fassbender's character, I haven't loved to hate a character this much since Phoenix played that patricidal, sister-****ing, murderous c**t Commodus.
Originally posted by Darth Martin
Just caught a second viewing. Instant masterpiece. Honestly, one of the very best movies I've ever seen. I'm struggling to think of a better film in the last few years.Munich, The Dark Knight, Inception, Inglourious Basterds, etc. I think this film MIGHT be better than all of them.
Seriously, everyone go support it. Ejiofor and Fassbender killed this movie.
You know, I also saw it twice and it was one of those rare movies that I thought was better on the second viewing. The first viewing is more an emotional experience and so it's easy to kind of miss how technically impressive the film is, on the second viewing you can really appreciate all the talent involved. That's how I know it's an amazing movie, actually better on the second viewing, very few of those films around.
Rob - Yeah a lot of people thought Pitt was distracting. I can see it, he essentially was just his character from Inglorious Basterds again, same accent and everything.
Another complaint I hear a lot is that people felt the movie didn't communicate the passage of time very well. But I felt this was perhaps done intentionally, I should probably stop here as to not venture into spoiler territory.
Originally posted by BackFireAnother complaint I hear a lot is that people felt the movie didn't communicate the passage of time very well. But I felt this was perhaps done intentionally, I should probably stop here as to not venture into spoiler territory.
What I didn't notice till the end of the movie was the very slight aging effect the time seemed to show on Solomon(like graying hair and the like)
Originally posted by Robtard
-One actress's crying, again, felt forced and took you out of dismal surroundings and plight of the slaves/Solomon.
This is the ONLY gripe I had with the film. Very minimal.
Spoiler:
When Solomon is trying to get Eliza to stop mourning her children on the porch I, too, felt that her weeping was too forced and not convincing. But everything else in the scene worked(Ejiofor's acting, the dialogue, etc.).
I was literally discussing the films scenes with my friend who I saw it with for a few hours after watching it. There's no filler or any point where I felt "OK, let's move along". It all matters.
The cinematography, McQueen's long uncut camera sequences, Zimmer's subtle score(sounded a tad like he ripped off Inception in some areas but nevertheless very good), the amazing cast, etc.
This film should win a ton of Oscars.
Best Picture
Best Adaptation
Best Actor
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
If Tom Hanks wins over Ejiofor we're going to have serious problems. Don't get me wrong, Tom Hanks was great as was Captain Phillips but this film is in an entirely different stratosphere.