Episode 4 - 12 Years a Slave

Steve McQueen is an English director who has steadily been making a name for himself over the years with the films "Hunger" and "Shame" (both starring the formidable Michael Fassbender).  McQueen breaks ground worldwide with his wrenching new film, based on the memoir of Solomon Northup, a free black man in New York sold into slavery in the antebellum South.  Chiwetel Ejifor gives one of the best performances of the year in the lead role and every supporting player in this disturbing drama is stellar.  Extremely well-crafted (and equally hard to watch) McQueen's drama amplifies the injustice of slavery by showing it through the eyes of a man who had every legal right to be free, but was a victim of a crime that tore asunder his happy and affluent life.  Showing supreme facility with actors as well as with camera movement and other aspects of visual storytelling, "12 Years a Slave" is a very strong contender for Best Picture and might just be the best directed film of 2013. You can download the podcast here by right-clicking on the hypertext link and choosing "save as", or you can use the convenient player located below:If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here