Celeste Nelson
September 11, 2014
Film Essay
I Pledge
It
is possible to develop great analytical skills and explore real events because
they were based on true events.
Both
movies, Glory and 12 Years a Slave, are exceptional movies. They were highly
successful and many schools include these movies in their curriculum. One
reason some schools do not include these movies in their curriculum is because
they think that because they are movies and not documentaries, that the
accounts are not based on true accounts. Schools think that the movies were
made to entertain, not to educate. I found that in my research, that is not the
case at all for the films Glory and 12 years a Slave. When Steve McQueen, The
director and maker of 12 Years a Slave, wanted to make a film about slavery he
set out to come up with a story that portrayed a story from a freedman’s point
of view who had been kidnapped and forced into slavery. When McQueen shared the
idea with his wife, she set out to help him research the topic. She came back
to him with an 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup. Solomon’s account of his life
was on the same topic that McQueen wanted to make a film about. McQueen decided
that instead of coming up with a new story that he would base his film on this
piece of literature. In the making of 12 Years a Slave, the intentions of
McQueen were to have a film that tugged on the heart strings of the audience.
He wanted the epic and tragic story of Solomon Northup to come to light. In the
making of the film, some accounts were not true or warped. In 12 Years a Slave,
the ship that carried Solomon after he was kidnapped was headed south. On the
ship, a slave that was also being transported stood up to a white man and was
immediately stabbed to death. That occurrence actually would have been very
rare. Slaves were valuable and they would not have been killed in a split
second decision. In the memoir what actually happened was a slave on the ship died
of Small Pox. This was not uncommon as slaves were not offered the best of
transportation and care. The reason McQueen changed this was to show how hard
it was for someone to escape from slavery. The effect was a more dramatic film
and it made it more obvious to the audience how hard it was. It is so difficult
for us to even fathom being kidnapped and forced into slavery.
Another
inaccuracy in the film 12 Years a Slave, was when Patsy begged Solomon to drown
her in a swamp. In the original memoirs, Mistress Epps, who was intensely
jealous of the affection her husband had towards Patsy, wanted to bribe Solomon
to drown her. The scene, though it was partially false, was in my opinion very
successful and necessary. The scene showed just how miserable and desperate
slaves were to escape their lives. It is so hard for me to imagine begging
someone to take my life because I was so desperate and miserable.
12
Years a Slave was a very successful film that, despite a few inaccuracies, did
exactly what Steve McQueen had intended. It was a hard to watch film that
portrayed slavery in its raw and gruesome form. It left a legacy in the film
industry and it won many well-earned awards. It forces the audience think
critically about being a slave and the lengths you would take to escape.
The
film Glory is another highly successful film. It was directed by Edward Zwick.
The intentions of Zwick were to create the most historically accurate film of
the 54th regiment, lead by Shaw. Zwick had always been very
interested in the Civil War and wanted above all to make it so it was based on
cold hard facts. The film has almost no inaccuracies. The movie was based on
literature including “Lay This Laurel” by Lincoln Kirstein, “One Gallant Rush”
by Peter Burchor, and actual letters written by Shaw. The letters written by
Shaw are frequently quoted verbatim in the film. The end result of Glory, was
an amazing film completely true and without inaccuracies.
Sources doc.
