12 years a slave versus Life is Beautiful (1997.)

NO SPOILERS for 12YAS, but some for LIB (it's an old movie so cope)

I can't say that I'm disappointed, though it was far from an enjoyable experience. I get the Oscar nominations, really I do. The acting was superb, especially by the male lead (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and one can never complain upon seeing a bit of Benedict Cumberbatch. Yet, the movie itself is absolute torture. Whipping, yelling something along the lines of how blacks are worthless, whipping, hangings, more whipping, etc. Yet in spite all this tragedy and suffering, the film was not at all moving. It just makes you cringe. So let's take Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni. The story is somewhat similar. In LiB, a man named Guido (a Jew) who is a rather charming character is madly in love with his wife and runs a bookshop somewhere in Italy with the help of his adorable son, Giosue. Then bam, Holocaust. Guido and Giosue are taken to a concentration camp. Once free men, they are now living in inhumane conditions and treated like filth. And yet, that film keeps a lightness to itself that 12YaAS certainly does not, and you can be sure that there is plenty of tragedy in both. We know a lot about Guido's wife and son, how they met even, and I won't believe anyone who says that they watched LiB without feeling concern for the characters. But of Solomon Northup we know almost nothing. We know that his wife is a cook and his children's names, but not much more. And that is why no one in the audience cares about Solomon. Where Benigni managed to infuse some charm into a story of great suffering, McQueen only shoots at us with more and more atrocities in form of violence in hope that it will evoke emotion. For me it did not. While the actor portrays the distress someone in that situation would be masterfully, I felt like Solomon just spends the movie making faces of desperation and half crying. I honestly would not have minded if the movie went on for another half hour if that meant us getting to know Solomon and his life a little bit better, which would certainly contribute depth both to the story and the character.