12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave (2013) starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch,  Brad Pitt. Directed by Steve McQueen. In 1841, a free black man named Solomon Northrup (Ejiofor) is tricked,  drugged and shanghaied into a life of slavery. The evils of slavery are shown in all their vileness. The movie is a powerful denunciation of slavery, especially as practiced in 1800s America, but one has to wonder whether it is really necessary to go to these lengths to denounce an institution which has been dead for 150 years. The movie won the Oscar for Best Picture, and also for Best Supporting Actress (Nyong'o). Bad as Solomon Northrup's experience was, the ending of this film seems anticlimactic. (English subtitles for the hearing-impaired are available, as well as closed captions.) Grade: B