10 Ridiculous International Movie Posters

2. 12 Years A Slave (Italy)

Shame Hungary Poster
Summit Entertainment

Steve McQueen's follow-up to Shame, 12 Years A Slave, is - as the title very obviously suggests - about a free-born African-American by the name of Solomon Northrup, who finds himself indentured for the best part of a dozen years. Hollywood has moved on some considerable distance since the days of Laurence Olivier blacking-up for Othello, and as such, Northrup was not, in fact, played by the very white Brad Pitt.

Someone didn't tell the film's Italian distributors that, where he appears messianically emerging from a cotton field on the poster, with the actual lead and titular slave Chiwetel Ejiofor relegated to a minor spot on the edge of the frame. The Fight Club star definitely carries considerable cache, but not enough to justify misrepresentation of such gross inappropriateness. Especially when you consider that Pitt is in the movie for all of about five minutes.

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Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.