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Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Goofs

12 Years a Slave

Edit

Continuity

After Epps has been wallowing through the pig pen, in the next shot his clothes are clean with no evidence that he had fallen.
When Solomon is drinking wine with the Hamilton and Brown, Hamilton drinks all of his glass and then tops off Solomon's. In the next shot Hamilton's glass is half-filled and they have a toast.
When the Sheriff arrives with Mr. Parker, Solomon is working the fields. During this conversation with the Sheriff, his hair is mostly black with a little greying on the sides. In the subsequent shots when he is riding in the carriage, his hair has greyed considerable more.

Factual errors

When Solomon is first seized, the white men beat him extensively on his back, but that would lessen his value on the slave market.

Revealing mistakes

Anachronisms

When "Platt" is explaining how to bring the logs down the river, the overseer scornfully asks him where he became an expert in engineering and "terraforming." This a word coined by science fiction author Jack Williamson in 1942, almost exactly 100 years after the scene takes place.
In the opening shots, a violin is being played and tuned. The light passes completely through the strings revealing they are synthetic material (introduced in the 1970's), not gut wrapped in copper or silver wire, nor were they steel strings.
There are water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an invasive aquatic plant native to South America, floating in the swamp. Water hyacinth were not introduced to North America until 1884, when they were exhibited (and subsequently released) during the World's Fair in New Orleans' Audubon Park.
Several times during the movie horses are seen wearing bridles with a 'flash' attachment on the nose-band. This type of attachment wasn't invented until the 1960s.
When Solomon is being sold to Master Ford, the two nude women in the background both have shaved pubic hair, something virtually impossible in the 1840s.

Audio/visual unsynchronised

Near the beginning while Solomon is being bamboozled by Mr Brown and Mr Hamilton, Mr Brown says "If we could persuade you to accompany us as far as Washington..." His lips are not saying the word "Washington". He might well be saying "New York", although this is not conclusive.
Northrup's playing for the forced merriment, does not synchronize with the violin sound.

Plot holes

After the slave girl returns with the soap, she is whipped to the point of being incapacitated ,but supposedly she is the hardest worker. That makes no sense.

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Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)
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