(MA15+) *****

Director: Steve McQueen.

Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Poulson.

GREAT films don't have to be enjoyable to watch, and 12 Years A Slave is a fine example.

This is an outstanding film - it's a collection of remarkable performances driving a strong script, deftly handled by director McQueen (Hunger, Shame) and dealing with its heavy subject matter impressively.

But it's also a brutal film, packed with the lynchings, whippings, rapings, beatings and other forms of mistreatment that went hand-in-hand with the American South's institutional slavery.

This unflinching look at legally endorsed prejudice and racism is told from the point of view of Solomon Northup (Ejiofor), a free man living with his wife and children in New York until he is kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Beaten for insisting he is not a runaway slave named Platt, Solomon soon learns he must keep his head down and his mouth shut if he is to survive this nightmare.

His ownership passes between the comparatively kindly plantation owner named Ford (Cumberbatch) and the ruthless cotton grower Epps (Fassbender), and all the while Solomon tries to figure out a way to get home.

What's fascinating about the story is the multi-faceted way it looks at slavery, prejudice and the social structures and moral issues within the white and black cultures. The slaves depicted try to stick together, but without sticking their necks out, adding guilt to their already woeful lives. The whites in the film are predominantly racist, just at varying levels, and those that aren't are struggling against an almost overwhelming tide of deeply ingrained bigotry.

As such, 12 Years A Slave is powerful and emotive - devastatingly so - and offers only small reprieves in between. It's a relief when McQueen directs his camera at the beauty of the Georgian everglades or when the soundtrack features the slaves singing a work song. 

The fact that slavery existed is horrific enough - the fact that this is based on a true story, written from Northup's account and published in 1853, makes it all the worse.

But what really drives it all home is the performances. Ejiofor, Fassbender and Nyong'o are outstanding. Ejiofor is in every scene and carries the film with a performance that can't have been easy, but is note-perfect and unwavering. 

The depth of his portrayal is displayed in a sequence where a group of slaves are gathered around a fresh grave, having buried one of their own who died while picking cotton. As they stand around singing, Ejiofor's Solomon goes from utter dejection to defiant resilience, barely containing his fear, sadness and despair all at the same time as he refuses to "drown in his melancholia". It's a powerhouse moment and just one of many examples that have led to the British actor being listed as a nominee for every acting award on offer.

Fassbender and Nyong'o are equally good. Fassbender is suitably despicable as Epps, while Nyong'o has the distasteful task of playing Patsey, a slave girl who is the object of Epps' affections.

Undoubtedly this is a tough watch, but that's to be expected when dealing with such a subject.

12 Years A Slave pulls no punches and is all the better for it. This is a truly impressive piece of filmmaking.