Coming off the heels of 'Django Unchained', director Steve McQueen's 'Twelve Years A Slave' looks to continue the trend of controversial yet critically acclaimed films that depict the harsh treatment of blacks during the time of the slave trade in pre-Civil War America. With a much more understated approach than the over the top, darkly comical one used by Quentin Tarantino, the trailer for this film establishes it as harrowing depiction of the atrocities of the time and specifically those inflicted upon the central character of Solomon Northup, who in the trailer, as a free man of social standing, is tricked then beaten, imprisoned and sold into slavery. With the use of Hans Zimmer's 'Time' theme from the film 'Inception', the opening of the trailer is almost peaceful (with the visuals of the house and surrounding fields highly reminiscent of the estate of the character Big Daddy in 'Django'). This brief scene showcases an exchange between Ejiofor's Solomon and the character played by Brad Pitt in which the latter expresses surprise at the supposed life-long slave's previous exploits. It is at this time that that the trailer flashes back to establish, with the aid of Solomon's narration, explain the series of events that led him to his terrible and tragic predicament that sees him torn away from his family and way of life, the key dialogue being "I was born a free man...till the day I was deceived" and given to a series of owners that vary in their treatment of him. A brief part of this sequence is scored with the same music that was used to great effect in the 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' trailer and here it has the same dark and ominous impact.
The mid section of the trailer begins with the voice of a black woman singing a folk song as various shots introduce what is presumably the setting for most of the film - the estate of the film's antagonist who's strict religion and violent tendencies are witnessed through various exchanges he has with other characters including Solomon. Our lead character explains his attempt to repair the disruption to the equilibrium of his life with the line "...but I don't want to survive, I want to live." This is a very dramatic piece of dialogue that shows the character's defiance against his master, in direct comparison with his fellow slaves who advice him to stay quiet and avoid trouble. Audiences love to see someone rebelling against the system, especially in order to reach the ones they love, and the remainder of the trailer also helps to cater to this desire, with Solomon's words of defiance reaching full effect. Another piece from Hans Zimmer's expansive repertoire, 'Journey to the Line' from the film 'The Thin Red Line' (which McQueen previously used in the trailer for his earlier film 'Shame' and clearly is a fan of) is used to score the end montage in which the film's long list of highly acclaimed actors, in addition to a number of newcomers, appear as title cards and brief shots to identify them.
The most well edited part of the trailer is when Ejiofor delivers part of a rousing, epic speech (which leads me to believe that he would make a fantastic Martin Luther King Jr. in a future biopic) and the music swells in accordance with the drama. It is interesting how actor Benedict Cumberbatch receives third billing, despite only appearing in a single one second shot in the entire trailer, suggesting that in the overall scheme of things his role is minor and his name is promoted more due to the fact of his recent A-list status, with roles in blockbusters such as 'Star Trek Into Darkness'. In addition, despite the accolades awarded to some of these actors there is no mention of them, or to think about it, the director's previous work (which has been universally acclaimed) so we can see the filmmakers have no need to rely on them to draw audiences but rather the strength of the storyline and the performances featured in the trailer. In conclusion, this trailer is a very strong use of footage and dialogue in order to successfully promote a film of such an important story. 'Twelve Years' is the definition of Oscar Bait if there ever was one - and not in a cringe-worthy way like Lee Daniel's 'The Butler', I must add - and so will likely to be hugely successful with both critics and general audiences, so of course I am very interested to see the film when it is released here in the UK.