Factual error: In the close-up of the violin being strung, it is obvious the strings are of contemporary origin. You can see they are translucent plastic; not exactly historically accurate.
12 Years a Slave (2013)
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Directed by: Steve McQueen
Starring: Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael K. Williams
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More mistakes in 12 Years a Slave
Solomon Northup: I don't want to survive. I want to live.
Trivia: Michael Fassbender passed out after filming the whipping scene.
Question: Why did all of the slaves have such beautiful teeth? The elderly woman slave who sang had a perfect set of white teeth. I can't imagine that slave owners took their "property" to the dentist on a regular basis. And how good was the dental work in the mid 1800's anyway?
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Answer: Few slaves would have had healthy, straight white teeth or had access to professional dental care, which was not very advanced at that time and it was painful. This is a detail the filmmakers either deliberately chose to ignore or were careless in how they depicted the characters' conditions.
raywest ★