Deadpan (Steve McQueen, 1997)
Lupita Nyong’o, From Unknown to “It” Girl in Less Than a Year
BY ALEX MORRIS
It was well into the audition process for 12 Years a Slave when Steve McQueen began to despair. He’d seen over a thousand actors for the role of the long-suffering Patsey, and no one quite had the “majestic grace” he thought the part required. By the time he watched the tape sent in by an unknown Kenyan actress named Lupita Nyong’o, he’d started to question his own judgment—“I just kind of rubbed my eyes in disbelief and needed someone else to confirm what I was seeing.” McQueen showed the audition to his 14-year-old daughter.
Her response: “Wow. Who is she?”
"12 Years a Slave" Cast at FOX after party for the 71st Annual Golden Globes Awards
Steve McQueen for Vulture (2013)
"Fassbender told me that McQueen “loves human beings,” even terrible ones. “The great thing about Steve, in terms of looking at characters and telling stories, is that he doesn’t judge any of it. It all is what it is. Through observation you try to gain some kind of understanding, as opposed to judgment.” He calls McQueen’s approach “almost journalistic.”
Director Steve McQueen circa 1992
Can we just give a shout out to David C. Robinson, who was the costume designer for Shame? Just. GORGEOUS work. I can never get over how beautifully dressed Michael Fassbender is in this film...
"Michael, it’s your third film with Steve. Talk a little bit about Steve as a director." [x]
DAMMIT FASSBENDER. You can't say things like that, and ALSO take pictures like this:
AND NOT EXPECT ME TO HAVE DIRTY, DIRTY DELICIOUS THOUGHTS.
Your Best Picture Winner Will Be 12 Years a Slave (x)
TIFF DAY 2:
So. I just saw 12 Years a Slave. I'm not even sure what I can possibly say about it.
I will say that you need to see it. Everyone needs to see it.
I will say that everyone who knows me, knows I have a heart of stone, and rarely ever cry in movies. I sobbed through the final 5-10 minutes of this film. The last (and maybe only) time I had that reaction was with Atonement.
I will say that even now, the film is still lingering with me, and I have a feeling it will stay with me for a long time.
I will say that it is horrific, and brutal, and so violent that the woman next to me was moaning and shaking, until eventually she had to get up and leave.
I will be surprised if it doesn't win best picture at the oscars (actually, I'll be APPALLED if it doesn't)
The entire cast was at the screening and they were uniformly amazing in the film, but the stand outs were definitely Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o and, of course, Chiwetel Ejiofor. (I read a review of the film and the critic said Fassbender goes farther than Shame, and someone said to me "but how is it possible to go farther than Shame?"Well...he goes farther than Shame. He is horrifying and psychotic, and it is unlike any role he's ever played...he's just. He's gone. He's completely the character, and there is nothing of himself left...from an actor's perspective, it is one of the most impressive pieces of acting I've ever seen, but I have no idea how he got to that place...)
I'm just...I'm so honoured that Steve McQueen made this film for us to see. I have so much more I could say about the cinematography and the music (OH GOD THE MUSIC) and the way Ejiofor facial expressions are simultaneously so vulnerable and a mask at the same time, and the way McQueen displays scenes of extreme horror violence and unbelievable degradation in the foreground/background of the average, mundane, day-to-day activities of the world to show how this was considered normal, and to emphasize how very sick that is, and how you as the viewer should be severely disturbed by that...
But...yeah. If you have the chance, please go and see it. It is not an easy film to watch, but I really think everyone needs to watch it.
(random fangirly side note--we managed to snag really good seats, and when the film started all the actors came down off the stage to their reserved seats in the audience...something had gotten screwed up and Fassbender was standing in the aisle right next to us talking to the usher and trying to figure out where he was suppose to go....the usher turned on her little flashlight and it illuminated his face and...just, DAMN. GODDAMN that man is attractive. It was shocking, really. I was not prepared.)
12 Years a Slave Theatrical Trailer
Fassy loves his directors!!
yep, he obviously does.
UM. FASSBENDER KISSED DAVID CRONENBERG!? THAT'S AMAZING.
Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen on the set of Shame (2011)
Shame; 2011 ↳ We’re not bad people. We just come from a bad place.