12 years a slave

James Bond movie Quantum of Solace premiered in Nairobi in the year 2008. Its opening show was in one of the movie theatres (Forgive me as despite all my effort to recall where that was; I just can’t recall). I will assume it was at Sarit Centre. The event sponsor was Kenya breweries. They were pushing their brands further into the market. Mututho by then had not “planted” himself negatively in the drinking scene.

The previous  James Bond movie had been done two years earlier. This particular movies Bond girl’s name was Olga Kurlyenko. Sounds like a Luhya name. Quantum of Solace was something. The girl was hot and the movie fantastic as usual with loads and loads of action. The night was memorable………………………… I lie. Sorry. I slept 10 minutes into the movie. Actually all I remember was how hot it was before we entered the theatre. Time seemed to be of no essence. The movie must have started about an hour late. It was a Kenyan event after all.  Immediately the movie started: and you can bet it was action packed, I slept. This gal Olga I have no recollection of her whatsoever!

I must confess- I am like that. Movies are not my thing. Perhaps because I prefer to read or because in almost all instances in which a book is turned into a movie and I watched it, I felt disappointed. Something gets lost and for some reason you can’t point it out. Hence I decided long time ago- if I read a book I skip the movie and vice versa. This way my expectations are not shattered. I have done so for several years. But sometimes there is an exception like The bridges of Madison county, and the norm like Fifty shades of grey which was even worse in the movie considering the content in the book.

My other weakness is that I like to sleep in the middle of movies. Sometimes I decide to do something else in the middle of the movie e.g read or watch another movie.  Hence in almost all instances I watch a one and a half hour movie in two or three days. Or even two weeks. When it comes to series- even six months is not enough. I have been watching Revenge since November 2014, and am still on that journey. Sometimes I could watch 2 movies plus 3 series simultaneously. I watch half an hour of this, sleep for 20 minutes, watch 20 minutes of a series, change to another and then go to bed. I start the cycle again some other time. I follow and enjoy each one of them. If I don’t like a movie I won’t watch it, I will sleep through it or never watch it for more than 10 minutes.

I am also a laggard. I watch movies when everyone has watched them. My movie girl always rolls her eyes when I ask her for something. Earlier this year I asked her for Wolves of Wall Street. She rolled her eyes

“You didn’t hear about it?’

 “What about?”

“It was banned!”-rolls her eyes again-.

“By whom?”

“The minister or someone you know umh- we don’t have it anyway.” She thought I was the most ignoramus human.

“Oh, I remember hearing about it.  Give me the Train then.”

This past Easter I was home alone. My daughter was visiting her grandparents or should I say she had gone to be spoilt by them (that’s a story I ought to write about.) I finally decided to pull from my archives Twelve years a slave to save myself from the silence and boy oh boy. As Jeff Koinange would say (use his baritone voice) what a movie! And no, I am not talking of the fact that Lupita Nyongo is on the movie but of the story itself. I was fascinated actually enchanted is the word. Solomon was a slave for a whooping twelve years. A free man kidnapped by other men and sold like a chattle- a movable item-. A man who had bought his freedom, a man who could write, a man who could play the violin (a small beautiful instrument for those who master that art or a horrendous monster instrument for those who wouldn’t. You can easily bet which category I fall under).

I marveled at it. A true story, a man had kept a good record of his life tribulations. I haven’t read the book, I am tempted to look for it but I might cry a river or break my spell. The story is surreal.  How would this happen and considering the book is set in centuries passed by how was he ever to find his way back home? To find his children grown up and even married! Where did he clean up? How long did it take him to get back home?

I was smitten with the character of Solomon and not Chiwetel the actor. A great intelligent man who kept his faith alive. I was smitten. I would actually like to meet him in heaven for a proper narration of his story in case he forgot anything. I think the actor did such great justice to the character of that man- Solomon Northup. The movie is quiet long and uncharacteristic of me, I did not sleep through it. Just had a water break as I thought of the assumptions we make about the freedoms we have in our lives.

Did the movie deserve an Oscar and all the other accolades it got in 2014? I don’t know since I was watching it a whopping 12 months later. I think Patsey is a good actor. However, in my eyes Chiwetel  carried the day . Even though the wrinkles on his face must have been created during the shooting period, I could identify with them. All that hard work, would I survive it? Never!  Not even for two days. But the man worked, hoped and prayed everyday. He was actually saved by a white man!

I later sat and thought to myself what kind of things would enslave us for 12 years? Is it anger, bitterness, frustration, envy, bad job, fear, lack of courage, bad relationships e.t.c. I mean what scenario could be worse than this Man’s? If this man despite the distance, lack of maps & compasses, diseases, beating and dehumanizing conditions still did go back home to his family. Who are you not to go back where you ought to be?

Sojourner.

http://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/apr/11/chiwetel-ejiofor-interview-12-years-a-slave