Ten things you need to know about 12 Years A Slave

With 12 Years A Slave being tipped for success at next year’s Oscar’s, here’s ten things you need to know about the movie.

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With December swiftly approaching, whispers have already started spreading about which movies will be nominated for Oscars in the New Year. And, while movies like The Wolf of Wall Street and Captain Phillips are being quietly talked about in hushed voices, it’s 12 Years A Slave which the critics are really shouting about.
But what’s so special about the slavery drama? Will it really be able to stand-up to all the film festival hype?

Well, here are ten facts which will shed some light on the highly-anticipated movie...
1) It’s directed by the same guy who brought us Shame
Bafta-winning British director Steve McQueen is at the helm of the movie, which is promising seeing as he conjured-up the incredible 2011 movie Shame.

2) Steve had always wanted to make a movie about slavery
During a conference at this year’s AFI festival in the US, Steve revealed that he had always wanted to make a film about slavery – he said: "I had this idea of a free man from the North who was dragged into slavery, and we the audience follow him as he tries to regain his freedom.” He then added that the script "wasn't going so well" and McQueen's wife suggested he look into true accounts of slavery for help. He then picked up the 1853 autobiography 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup and started the adaptation process.
3) The movie follows Solomon Northup’s real life journey
Based on his book, the film follows Solomon’s journey as he goes from being a free black man in New York, to someone who is abducted and sold into the brutal and savage world of slavery. The film then follows Solomon as he’s forced to work on a Louisiana plantation for 12 grueling years.
4) Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon…
Best known for his roles in Children Of Men and American Gangster, Chiwetel Ejiofor portays Solomon on the big screen. The film also stars Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch.
5)… but it wasn’t the easiest role for him to take on
In an interview with Cineworld, Chiwetel spoke about the main challenges of playing Solomon – he said: “It was tough, physically and emotionally. Every day there was a sense of really connecting to Solomon and his story… Trying to re-enact it in the detail he describes it was very important to me."

6) Steve thought Chiwetel was perfect for the iconic part
The director told movie website Rotten Tomatoes: “He has this kind of stature, this kind of grace, this kind of dignity. There's an elegance to him that I needed for Solomon. That was it. He had a sense of Harry Belafonte, or Sidney Poitier; it was the stature that I needed that character to have. The only one I could think of that had it was Chiwetel.”
7) The movie has already been nominated for awards
It’s little wonder that the movie has more buzz than a bee trapped in a can of Red Bull; it’s already been nominated for seven Spirit Awards. The flick is up for best feature, best director, best actor (Chiwetel Ejiofer), best supporting actress (Lupita Nyong'o), best supporting actor (Michael Fassbender), best screenplay (John Ridley) and best cinematography (Sean Bobbitt).
8) Although Steve is humble about the film’s success
Talking to Rotten Tomatoes, the director said: “I'm just happy the movie's out. I'm happy we made the movie. It's been a long, long road and I can't believe that we actually made it -- but we did make it. I'm just so pleased by the response, and humbled by the response. I'm happy that the broader public will now get the chance to see it. Hopefully they'll go and see it.”
9) The movie has already been out in the US for a while
It may not hit UK cinemas until January, but the movie has been out in the US since October. The film received a positive reception from both movie fans and critics and has earned an impressive domestic total of $29,393,000 so far.
10) The film has some harrowing scenes
Seeing that the movie is about slavery, it’s little surprise that some of the scenes in the film are difficult to watch. Chiwetel recently talked about a particular scene which involved him whipping a fellow cast member – he said: “It really happened to these people, and we're right there in Louisiana, and you have that sense that you're dancing with spirits, dancing with ghosts. That whole area has that feel anyway, and then you're there doing something like this on this particular day, a day probably not dissimilar to the day that it happened 100-odd years ago.”

12 Years A Slave hits cinemas on Friday 10 January 2014.