History Film / TwelveYearsASlave

* CanadaEh: Creator/BradPitt features as Bass, a Canadian humanist and abolitionist, whose Canadian accent is remarkably nonexistent (of course that's because Pitt [[FakeNationality isn't Canadian)]].

''Twelve Years a Slave'' is a title that refers both to the 1853 memoir by abolitionist Solomon Northup and [[TheFilmOfTheBook its 2013 film adaptation]] (with the "twelve" formatted as a number), directed by [[Creator/SteveMcQueenDirector Steve McQueen]] and written by John Ridley.

[=McQueen=]'s film adaptation was released in October 2013, starring English actor Creator/ChiwetelEjiofor as protagonist Solomon Northup, with additional cast including breakout star Creator/LupitaNyongo, Creator/MichaelFassbender, Creator/BenedictCumberbatch, Creator/PaulDano, Creator/PaulGiamatti, Creator/SarahPaulson and Creator/BradPitt.

* ButNotTooBlack: {{Averted}}. The black skin tones in this movie range from very light to very dark, with Patsey, who is lauded (and hated) for her beauty, having skin nearly ebony-black.
** The slave trader Freeman refuses to sell Eliza's small daughter to Ford along with Eliza, as "there's piles of money to be made" from pimping her out. She is mixed race and therefore considered more attractive to white johns. She's 8-10 years old.

* OnlySaneMan: Bass, who's literally the ''only'' white person Solomon meets in the South who despises slavery and recognizes it for what it really is (probably has a lot to do with him being Canadian, where slavery was abolished in 1834, thirty-one years sooner than in the United States, and it had never been as common).

* PetTheDog:
** [[NobleBigot Master Ford]] has several of these moments. He tries to buy Eliza's daughter before learning that the price is too high. He treats Solomon well and appreciates his talents and he seems prepared to defend Solomon's life against an attack by Tibeats.

** PsychopathicManchild: Epps, who throws ridiculously bad tantrums and revels in debasing others for his own amusement.

* MixedRaceIsAttractive: One of the many horrifying reasons why the slave auctioneer refuses to sell Eliza's daughter to Ford, due to her being "a light-skinned beauty" and he could profit from the money she'll make.

* AntiVillain: William Ford. Compared to [[AxCrazy Epps]], he is a saint -- he treats his slaves well and worries about their well being, but is still a slaver and justifies his staying in the business because of the financial ruin he'd face otherwise. The director has said he considers him the worst of the three slavers we see, as he has no illusions that what he's doing isn't evil, but does it anyway. It could also be argued the film doesn't change Solomon's perspective about Ford at all. He does try to defend Ford as being a decent man "under the circumstances". It's Eliza who, for very understandable reasons, doesn't have the highest opinion of Ford.

* SceneryPorn: Steve [=McQueen=] and Sean Bobbit took inspiration from the painter Goya, known [[http://variety.com/2013/film/awards/directors-on-their-teams-steve-mcqueen-talks-12-years-1200823996/ for depicting horrific events in beautiful places.]]

** His autobiography, along with ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'', almost ''certainly'' contributed to the abolitionist movement in the United States, though. So that was a victory of sorts.

** His autobiography, along with ''Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave'', almost ''certainly'' contributed to the abolitionist movement in the United States, though. So that was a victory of sorts.

** His book ''almost certainly'' contributed to the abolition of slavery in the United States, though. So that was a victory of sorts.

* StaticCharacter: Solomon doesn't learn something through his trials or start the film with a flaw that he has to confront through the process of the film. He simply endures the horrors of slavery until he's able to escape. Justified, of course; his ordeals in real life weren't the result of anything he did wrong, just the cruelty of slavery as a system.

* AdultFear: Considering this is a story about slavery, there are plenty of moments like this:
** Being a slave, Solomon has to put with abuse or inflict abuse on behalf of someone else. If he refuses or fights back, it could mean instant death. Even asserting his identity as an educated free person could get him killed.
** Patsey has to contend with being lusted after by a sadistic pervert, and then mistreated by that pervert's wife. And if she does ''anything'' that can be construed as disobedience, it means several lashes.

* FlatCharacter: Solomon doesn't learn something through his trials or start the film with a flaw that he has to confront through the process of the film. He simply endures the horrors of slavery until he's able to escape. Justified, of course; his ordeals in real life weren't the result of anything he did wrong, just the cruelty of slavery as a system.

* HappinessInSlavery: Clemens seems quite happy to see his master Jonas when he comes to get him, and even smiles and comforts him when the former runs into his arms. However, despite how benevolent he may be, Jonas is still a slave owner, and makes a point of calling Clemens his "property."

* HappinessInSlavery: Clemens seems quite happy to see his master Jonas when he comes to get him, and even smiles and comforts him when the former runs into his arms.

** When his wife sees Eliza weeping desperately at the loss of her children, she pities her, and says, "Have some food and rest. Your children will soon be forgotten." It doesn't seem to occur to her that slaves might love their children as much as white people. In addition, while she at first seems sympathetic to Eliza's plight (despite not considering that slaves might love their children as much as white people do, as the above point illustrates), she later has Ford sell Eliza because she "makes too much noise," (meaning, she cries over the loss of her children too much for the wife's tastes) which casts some doubt on how genuine her pity was in the first place.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The poster implies Solomon will attempt to escape. Yet that never happens. He just patiently waits for his chance.

** Mrs. Ford's "your children will soon be forgotten" line. It was gut-wrenching to Eliza and the audience. But in her mind it was likely a legitimate attempt to be compassionate as she had likely seen, from her point of view, many slave women before get over the loss of their children. Anyone who's ever been on, or near, a farm knows that when animals are separated from their offspring they will make a lot of noise for about 24 hours and are then quiet again. This of course does not mean they've gotten over it.

* LeadYouCanRelateTo: Solomon, the cultured, educated free man shares a lot more in common with his audience than the illiterate born slaves that he falls in with. [[FridgeBrilliance Probably even truer for the original book.]] Abolitionists tended to promote the stories of [[LeadYouCanRelateTo the most educated and intelligent slaves]] [[FairForItsDay to accentuate the horror for their white audiences.]]

** [[NobleBigot Master Ford.]] He tries to buy Eliza's daughter before learning that the price is too high. He treats Solomon well and appreciates his talents and he seems prepared to defend Solomon's life against an attack by Tibeats.

* SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: It's unclear whether it's his adultery itself that Epps is ashamed of, or the fact that it's a black woman he lusts after (or both), but it's clear that he doesn't like it and he takes it out on Patsey.

** Implied to be the eventual fate of Eliza's daughter. When Ford tries to purchase her, the slave auctioneer tells him he can't sell her as [[FridgeHorror she's a light-skinned "beauty" and will earn him a considerable sum of money.]]

* StupidEvil: The slave owners, especially Epps, has no qualms about beating their workforce half to death or even hanging them, despite their value. In the 1850s a good field slave usually sold for $1,000 (about $30,000 in 2014 currency), [[http://acadianahistorical.org/items/show/49 while Epps bought Solomon (as "Platt") for $1,500]]. For a rather poor DeepSouth farmer, this was a small fortune. It would have been expected they might treat their slaves better if only to get them more productive in the fields.