12 Years a Slave

12 Years a Slave was an incredible depiction of the injustices of slavery and the disgusting culture of the Civil War. Steve Mcqueen beautifully juxtaposes the lifestyle slaves  with the brutality of the plantation owners. Some of my favorite shots were the individual stills of Plath’s reactions and thoughts, and also the scene where Plath burns the letter and the transition to the next scene is the embers of the letter slowly dying. The soothing elements of nature were incredible, but served as a vehicle to depict the surroundings of the slaves every day. The scene where the slaves are surrounding the grave of their friend and singing “Roll, Jordan, Roll” was incredibly emotional and really furthered the fact that these people were not property, they were human beings. The actors, especially Lupita Nyongo, did their roles incredible justice and really were able to transport you back to that era. 12 Years a Slave is an incredible work of art that furthers an immense level of purpose in our soceitynb