It's been 7 days since I have seen Steve McQueen's masterpiece and not a day has gone by without an imprint of an image from that time of torture. Using the word "master" doesn't ring the same way. Even when used for a neutral reference, such as the recent Tennis Master tournament. "Master" now brings images of the highest form of human-executed injustice. Brings up the evil portrayal of Masters in America's 1840s, so brilliantly and disturbingly demonstrated by Michael Fassbender (and hey, what a director-actor duo, this is the third McQueen - Fassbender partnership). Just now, as I was taking some pomegranate, another image came to mind. The despair and hope of Solomon Northup's attempt to use rasberry leftover juice as writing ink. Let me warn you. You will suffer throughout the 2 hours of the film. There is no good time of the week or time of the day to see it. It will mark you. As Manohla Dargis says
"The Blood and Tears, not the Magnolias". But then, once you digest the immediate effects of the torture on screen (perhaps the most viciously displayed ever), you will then start to process all the malignant and unjust dynamics that marked that horrendous period. And the will to survive. An Oscar frontrunner for sure. Eliofor for leading role, Fassbender for supporting, cinematography is supreme,...everything. "I don't want to survive, I want to live."
p.s. Brad Pitt's appearance - really? And when the credits rolled at the beginning I thought he actually had a supporting role. That was a 7 minute (tops?) guest appearance.
