tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post629518416367563337..comments2023-11-05T02:01:53.847-06:00Comments on Antagony & Ecstasy: OF HUMAN BONDAGETimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-42393089491781825852013-11-10T00:48:33.109-06:002013-11-10T00:48:33.109-06:00and oh, btw, great review!and oh, btw, great review!gina.bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14522239556265831568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-86160674871474867212013-11-10T00:45:49.256-06:002013-11-10T00:45:49.256-06:00I didn't think the final plantation shot was f...I didn't think the final plantation shot was flawed at all - yeah, there is something uncomfortable about Solomon's not looking back at Patsey as the backdrop slides easily out of focus. It felt indulgent, bordering on selfish. And that sounds about right for a man who's learned to make the kind of compromises Solomon had to in order to survive. <br /><br />I would even go further and say that the scene, set up as it is with the focus on Solomon, makes viewers complicit in the selfishness. I don't know about you, but I nearly missed Patsey fainting. By the time I realized what happened, her body was almost off-screen and I felt guilty as hell - I'd been all too willing to let myself get caught up in one man's happy ending and forget the continuing plight of the rest.gina.bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14522239556265831568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-45420420237724761902013-10-23T04:50:30.235-05:002013-10-23T04:50:30.235-05:00Yeah, but it was an E!-type Entertainment review s...Yeah, but it was an E!-type Entertainment review show. What do you expect?Chere Taylorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04297900816358511887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-46082463791123594642013-10-22T11:40:25.019-05:002013-10-22T11:40:25.019-05:00I caught an accidental snippet of an E!-type enter...I caught an accidental snippet of an E!-type entertainment news show last month in which they hyped up a "new Brad Pitt" movie, mispronounced Ejiofor's name, briefly admitted that Brad Pitt has barely a cameo and that Ejiofor was the star and then went on about more Brad Pitt. does that count as ironic or offensive in light of what the subject matter of the film was?Brian Malbonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01908354298411555211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-1154007235967742202013-10-21T23:36:53.375-05:002013-10-21T23:36:53.375-05:00That very specific shot bothers me most of all bec...That very specific shot bothers me most of all because of the very audible "Patsy faints dead away" audio cue that feels like, I don't know, he should <i>glance back</i>, maybe?<br /><br />But the reality of the situation is that this film likely wouldn't have been made without a relatively safe, reassuring ending, just like it wouldn't have been made if executive producer Brad Pitt hadn't put in a sympathetic, easy-to-advertise cameo. It CERTAINLY wouldn't be at the forefront of the Oscar conversation.Timhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09491952893581644049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14812333.post-45797973950299876702013-10-21T23:16:46.299-05:002013-10-21T23:16:46.299-05:00"If [Schindler's List] is about "600..."If [<i>Schindler's List</i>] is about "600 Jews who didn't die" as Stanley Kubrick cuttingly put it, so to is <i>12 Years a Slave</i> about one man not dying in the hideous machinery of slavery (the title is not, after all, <i>60+ Years a Slave</i>)."<br /><br />This is a good point, and it's the reason that I found a moment near the end to be such a major misstep. [Spoilers, I guess] When Solomon is finally rescued, he hugs Patsy goodbye, gets in the cart with his rescuers, and rides away, with the plantation slowly fading out of focus in the background of the shot, as if it were a nightmare that's finally ending. And that's it for Patsy and the other slaves. Solomon comes home to a family that's been loving and missing him all those years, and then the film ends. It's a disappointingly pat resolution, and what makes the flaw more glaring than it otherwise might be is that it could have been fixed with a simple reversal of that shot where Solomon rides away. If we had seen that moment from Patsy's perspective, with Solomon disappearing into the distance with his white friends, it would have made Solomon's breakdown in the final scene much richer and more complicated. One gets the sense that McQueen intended his apology in that scene to hint at the guilt he feels for his happy ending, but thanks to the direction in the rescue scene, the moment doesn't land with the force it should.<br /><br />This is just a quibble, I know—the film deserves the praise it's been getting. It's just too bad that it bears this blemish, in the same way that it's too bad that <i>Psycho</i> has that psychiatrist scene at the end.kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09791884010747001360noreply@blogger.com