The movie came just a year after the release of Django Unchained, the epic in which Quentin Tarantino reimagined slavery as a Southern-fried spaghetti Western. Django had one of those traditional hero-on-a-quest story lines that Hollywood can’t get enough of, and Tarantino’s blood-spattered style was perfect for capturing the unspeakable brutality that sustained U.S. slavery. But 12 Years a Slave is vastly more important, for two reasons: It won best picture, and it’s based on a true story. ~ Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Eugene Robinson
Posted on: Sat, 08 Mar 2014 01:16:41 +0000