Is 12 Years A Slave destined for Oscar glory at next year's ceremony? Going by this scene alone, the answer is a reassuring "yes." The movie, which stars the deftly underrated Chiwetel Ejiofor as free man turned slave Soloman Northup (based on his real-life memoirs), is a brilliant melting pot of sensational direction, cinematography, performance and writing, all of which come together precisely in what is the undoubtably the film's best scene (and therefore one of the best of the year): Northup, as a punishment, is subjected to a botched near-hanging. It's only down to luck that he's eventually rescued before it's too late, but the way that director Steve McQueen frames this scene - with the camera panning back as Soloman is literally forced into a dance of death - provides us with the most definitive image of this truly incredible movie. Ejiofor, who is a force to behold in 12 Years A Slave, is mesmerising here, and the movie itself hinges on his performance - it might not have worked without such elegantly casting, after all. What's more remarkable is the way that life just continues on around Soloman as he dangles. As a moment, it's harrowing - but this is history, and it resonates long after the movie is over.
