【电影简介】

1841年，所罗门·诺瑟普（切瓦特·埃加福特饰）是一个木匠兼小提琴手，与妻儿生活在纽约州的萨拉托加斯普林斯。后来两个白人（分别由斯科特·麦克奈利和泰伦·基勒姆饰）以给他提供一个在马戏团伴奏表演的机会为由，把所罗门骗到了华盛顿卖为黑奴。

所罗门被改名为“普拉特”，一个从乔治亚州逃跑的奴隶。他被特奥菲卢斯·弗里曼（保罗·吉亚玛提饰）卖给了种植园主福特先生（本尼迪克特·康伯巴奇饰）。所罗门与福特先生相处融洽。他修建的运输水渠工作效率高，福特先生为了表扬送了他一把小提琴。但是这惹来了木匠约翰·提毕兹（保罗·达诺饰）的记恨，开始对他恶言相向。提毕兹勾结朋友要对所罗门处以私刑，昏迷的他被福特先生救下。福特先生说他要想活下去，就必须把所罗门卖给埃德蒙·艾普斯（迈克尔·法斯宾德饰）。他想告诉福特先生其实他不是奴隶，但是福特先生说“我不能听你说这个”，“他有债要还”，身不由己。

艾普斯相信虐待奴隶是被圣经所允许的，奉劝他们接受所谓的宿命。他要求每个奴隶每天必须采200磅棉花，否则便会挨打。帕特茜（露皮塔·尼永奥饰）每天能采超过500磅的棉花，艾普斯经常表扬她，对她一直不怀好意。艾普斯夫人（莎拉·保罗森饰）非常嫉妒，在艾普斯先生当众说如果他受人威胁他宁可选择帕特茜而非妻子之后，一有机会她就会暴戾地虐待帕特茜。

多次被艾普斯先生强奸，欲自寻短见的帕特茜向所罗门求助，但是他拒绝了。艾普斯认为新来的奴隶带来了棉花蠕虫，他把这些奴隶租给了邻近的糖料种植园。糖料种植园主人很喜欢所罗门，还允许他在结婚周年纪念典礼上演奏提琴，并且还给了劳动报酬。回到艾普斯庄园以后，他想用这些钱让请两个白人寄一封信给他在纽约州的朋友，他们表面上答应了他的请求并收了钱，背地里却告发了他。所罗门勉强的让艾普斯相信了他，最后他只能悄悄的烧掉这封信，他唯一的希望。

有一天，艾普斯因为到处都找不到帕特茜而暴怒，等她回来以后，艾普斯命令把她绑起来，逼迫所罗门鞭打帕特茜， 所罗门无奈只能服从，但他实在无法继续，艾普斯接过鞭子继续直到帕特茜全身血肉模糊。帕特茜渐渐康复，所罗门和来自加拿大的木匠巴斯（布拉德·皮特饰）一起建造露台。巴斯反对奴隶制，所罗门很信任他并向他请求帮助，希望他能寄一封信到萨拉托加斯普林斯。起初，巴斯认为这回威胁到他自己的生活所以并没有答应，但善良的他还是同意了所罗门的请求。

纽约州州长和另一个人来到所罗门所在的庄园，并点名要找所罗门，州长询问了所罗门一些有关他以前生活在纽约州的问题，所罗门认出州长的同伴是他认识的一个萨拉托加的店主，这个人就是来解放他的。尽管艾普斯依然不相信，帕特茜也非常惊讶，离开之前所罗门给了帕特茜最后的拥抱。在为奴12年后，所罗门重获自由回到了自己的家。

【音频文本】

There is so much about this year's Golden Globe winner "12 Years a Slave" that shows why it deserves universal acclaim.

First and foremost, it is in itself a fairly good movie to begin with.

Story-wise, it is based on, and strictly faithful to, Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir of the same name. The book offers an account of 19th century America's slavery system, from the perspective of a free Negro soldto slavery. Unlike Quentin Tarantino, in his 2012 film "Django", director Steve McQueen doesn't take the subject for granted and instead allows the viewers to learn about the dark side of American history from a freshman's point of view; much like Solomon himself in the story.

Next, Steve McQueen's determination to uncover the sinister past from under the carpet is given strong support from the cast. Lead actor Chiweltel Ejiofor may have lost out on a Golden Globe this week to Matthew McConaughey for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, but he does convey a memorable image of a freeman being forced to slavery. During the two hours, we follow him around on the big screen, fear his fears and dream his worst dreams. Some of these fears and dreams are delivered in person by none other than Michael Fassbender as the slave owner Edwin Epps. He's tried his best, though he isn't good enough to compete with the most dedicated actress Lupita Nyong'o. The latter's character of a young female slave seems to carry upon herself all the burdens of an inhumane system.

And of course the skills of the cast are amplified by the powerful imagery captured by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt. It is a pretty lengthy movie that runs for more than two hours, but I don't think anyone would be able to forget one particular scene half way into the film, where Solomon is hung against a tree. That long take alone contained enough fear and cruelty, so much so that it at least partly explains why slaveryexisted in the southern part of the United States for so long, and why it was abolished eventually.

One more explanation for the movie's success is perhaps the fact that few people are willing to question McQueen's work, because those who actually do so would need a lot of courage. However, black Canadian author Orville Lloyd Douglas is one of the very few courageous critics. And here I quote what he said from the Guardian: "I'm convinced these black race films are created for a white, liberal film audience to engenderwhite guilt and make them feel bad about themselves. Regardless of your race, these films are unlikely to teach you anything you don't already know."

Well, nothing is really new under the sun. Even if it doesn't teach us anything fresh, the feelings and inspirations from watching such a great film are good enough.

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