virtualDavis

ˈvər-chə-wəlˈdā-vəs Serial storyteller, poetry pusher, digital doodler, flâneur.

12 Years a Slave Wins Oscar

12 Years a Slave (doodle by virtualDavis)

12 Years a Slave (doodle by virtualDavis)

In a triumph long deferred, “12 Years a Slave” won the best picture Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards… “I’d like to thank this amazing story,” said Steve McQueen, the British-born filmmaker… “Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live…” (NYTimes.com)

The endless Academy Awards ceremony defeated me before I could witness rightful victory, but this morning I awoke to discover the news emblazoned everywhere. 12 Years a Slave Wins Oscar. 12 Years a Slave Wins Oscar!

I was not in the least surprised that 12 Years a Slave took the coveted top trophy. In fact I would have been dismayed if it had been passed over. The storytelling and characters impacted me profoundly and enduringly.

The film is gripping and visceral… unfiltered and unforgiving. McQueen captures slavery in its least sympathetic and most complex iteration I can recall, plunging into it’s insidious, malignant effect, dehumanizing slave, master end every one in between. (I Want to Live: Praise for 12 Years a Slave)

Steve McQueen Does Not Win Oscar

12 Years a Slave wins Oscar, but the film’s Director does not. There’s inevitably some debate over whether or not Director Steve McQueen deserved to win Best Director which was instead awarded to Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity. I don’t know. There’s no question in my mind that 12 Years a Slave was a superior film, but how much of that credit is owed the director is an assessment that exceeds my knowledge or opinion.

Chiwetel Ejiofor Does Not Win Oscar

I am disappointed that Chiwetel Ejiofor did not receive and Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role for his riveting portrayal of Solomon Northup. Matthew McConaughey was excellent in Dallas Buyers Club, but Ejiofor transcended mere excellence. He embodied a character, an historic figure and history itself in a was that will remain etched into the psyche of everyone who watches the film. See why the Academy doesn’t ask me to weigh in? ;-)

Lupita Nyong’o Wins Oscar!

My disappointment that Chiwetel Ejiofor did not win an Oscar is partly tempered by the fact that Lupita Nyong’o won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was outstanding, and she deserved to win. I can’t wait to see what film she transforms next.