Analyse The Cultural Identity In Steve Mcqueen’s Adaptation Of 12 Years A Slave

In the eighty-sixth Oscar awards ceremory, based on the most serious topic in American history and the actors’ exquisite acting, as well as the director’s objective and calm lens application, 12 Years a Slave won a number of awards, including the best film award. This movie is adapted from an autobiographic novel. Solomon Northup, a free man who lived in New York comfortable. One day, he was framed by white and turned into a slave. He spend 12 years living as a slave, until carpenter helps he finally return to be a free man. After the film won the Oscar prize, the film and the autobiographic novel’s research have emerged in China. This article will take the identity problem as the breakthrough point, combined with the film theory to discuss Mcqueen Steve’s thinking on the identity in this movie. This article will be divided into three parts:The first part, I will use long lens theory and Foucault’s body on the power discipline theory, interpretation of the film 12 Years a Slave, black body predicament, showcasing black body how under the discipline of power express themselves. They appear in the discipline and trans discipline the body state, mining this behind the deep connotation. Steve Mcqueen, through the use of a long lens, the body and identity issues related to the body and the scars are given a deep meaning, they are evidence, is truth.The second part, I will use flashback in the movie to analysis Mcqueen’s cultural identity thinking. Whether Solomon and Eliza, have experienced a change of status, the status change not only is of concern to all non African populations and people around the world need concern, Mc Queen in the film into the thinking of their own for culture, makes the film detachment to the original novel and has the value of the times.The third part, I will analyze the sound in the movie. I think the sound is the breakthrough point to discuss the status of African ethnic groups. Steve Mc Queen use this element of the sound expressed his solution for African ethnic identity confusion. Violin is not only as a an important clue series from the plot of the story, but also imply that the positive self consciousness. There are two songs appear in the movie, Run nigger run and the Roll Jordan roll, which means under the background of suffering become an important means of Afro diasporic identity.In McQueen’s view, music is a kind of method for non African populations to maintain themselves positive self consciousness. If they want to get out of the "black and white" cultural circle, they must have the choice of accepting the foreign culture and keep the independence of the national culture. Only in this way, they can live in the present moment.