12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment

12 Years

HBO Max original film 12 Years a Slave was released October 18th, 2013.

#12Years is based on a true story / made $187.7M internationally / won best film.









rottentomatoes: 95%

metacritic: 96

imdb: 8.1

oscars: 3 wins

golden globes: 1 win

SAG awards: 1 win



Solomon Northrup, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Solomon Northrup, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Solomon Northrup

Solomon Northrup is unlawfully detained and subjected to the labor market of 1841 New Orleans, Louisiana.

Solomon Northrup, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Chiwetel Ejiofor

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

1 nomination: 2014

Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

1 nomination: 2014

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

1 nomination: 2014

“All right, all right, all right. All right. Into bed. Into bed. Thank you for the music. Come on. Get in there. Come on. Give me a kiss. I love you, Margaret. Sleep well. I’ll take this. I don’t want to hear any more noise. Good night.” — Solomon Northrup

“Three weeks and two days. I won’t say idle. If only I didn’t have to share your cooking with other people.” — Solomon Northrup

“Be good for your mother. Okay, Alonzo? Can I get a kiss, please? Thank you. Travel safely.” — Solomon Northrup

“Good day. Mr. Moon is being overly gracious. Of course.” — Solomon Northrup

“A circus? Well, thank you, sir.” — Solomon Northrup

“That is far more than my wages amount to. Cheers. Gentlemen… your generosity is extraordinary. Cheers.” — Solomon Northrup

“So sorry.” — Solomon Northrup

“My name… my name is Solomon Northrup. I’m a free man. A resident of Saratoga, New York, the residence of my wife and children who are equally free. And you have no right whatsoever to detain me. Now, I promise you… I promise you, upon my liberation I will have satisfaction for this wrong. No.” — Solomon Northrup

“Help. Help me. Help me! Somebody help me! Help! Help!” — Solomon Northrup

“Oh, no, that’s from my wife. Quiet. Quiet, please, quiet. Your mother will come, I swear she will, but you must be silent. Be silent.” — Solomon Northrup

“We need a sympathetic ear, an opportunity to explain our situation. The two men I journeyed with. I’m certain they’re making inquiries at this very moment. They were not kidnappers; they were artists, fellow performers.” — Solomon Northrup

“The crew is fairly small. Were it well planned, I believe they could be strong-armed. Days ago, I was with my family. In my home. Now you tell me all is lost. Tell no one who I am– that’s the way to survive? Well, I don’t want to survive. I want to live.” — Solomon Northrup

“Clemens! Clemens! Clemens! Clemens! Clemens!” — Solomon Northrup

“Mr. Parker. We’re in need of a fresh carryall for my missus’s travels, nothing more. At what price? Mr. Parker. If we could discuss the price. Shop well, sir, but mind your wallet. No intrusion.” — Solomon Northrup

“My name is not Platt. My name…” — Solomon Northrup

“The creek is plenty deep enough to sail, even with a boat full of load. The distance from the work area to the point on the latter bayou is several miles by water fewer than land. It occurs to me that the expense of transportation would be materially diminished… if we use the waterway.” — Solomon Northrup

“Well, I reckon them at more than 12 feet at their most narrow. Wide enough for a tub to traverse if a team of ******* cleared it out. I labored repairing the Champlain Canal on the section over which William van Nortwick was superintendent. With my earnings, I hired several efficient hands to assist me, and entered into contracts for the transportation of large rafts of timber from Lake Champlain to Troy.” — Solomon Northrup

“All right, you good? Clear it out. Two, three. Thank you, Master Ford.” — Solomon Northrup

“My great thanks, Master Ford.” — Solomon Northrup

“Eliza. Eliza. Stop! Stop your wailing! You let yourself be overcome by sorrow, you will drown in it. They are as my flesh. Master Ford is a decent man. Under the circumstances… no. I survive! I will not fall into despair! I will offer up my talents to Master Ford! I will keep myself hearty until freedom is opportune!” — Solomon Northrup

“My back is thick with scars… for protesting my freedom. Do not accuse me.” — Solomon Northrup

“They are, sir. They are smooth to the touch as a yearling’s coat. It’s all a matter of perspective, sir. From where you stand, you may see differently, but the hands are not mistaken. I simply ask that you use all your senses before rendering judgment.” — Solomon Northrup

“I do as ordered. Yes, sir.” — Solomon Northrup

“Yes, Master, I’m about it. These have all been replaced. And so I did. I did as instructed. If there’s something wrong, it’s wrong with the instruction! I will not. Mas… Master Tibeats wants to whup me for using the nails you gave me.” — Solomon Northrup

“Master Ford. You must know that I’m not a slave. Before I came to you, I was a freeman.” — Solomon Northrup

“Yes, mistress? I can, ma’am. Yes, mistress. I told you. Washington. Master name of Freeman. I suppose so. A word, here or there. But I have no understanding of the written text…” — Solomon Northrup

“On my way to… Bartholomew’s. Sent by M-Mistress Epps. All right. All right.” — Solomon Northrup

“No, ma’am. No trouble.” — Solomon Northrup

“Good morning, Master Shaw. Master sent me to retrieve Patsey. May I approach? Excuse me, Mistress Shaw. Patsey, Master wishes you to return. Master sent me running to fetch you. Said no time should be wasted. Thank you, mistress, but I don’t dare. I’d rather not say. As you are aware, Master Epps is a man of hard countenance. You know he has ill feeling towards your husband. Master Epps has somehow come to believe that Master Shaw… is something of a lothario. A misguided belief, no doubt. I meant no disrespect. Oh, I meant no disrespect to you, mistress.” — Solomon Northrup

“Do not look in his direction. Continue on. Found her, Master. And brought her back, just as instructed. No words were spoken, none of consequence. I cannot speak of what did not occur. M-Master! Master Epps, I… I brought her back, just like you… Master… I got her, just as instructed. Master Epps! Master. Please, Master Epps. Master Epps!” — Solomon Northrup

“Master Epps believed Patsey and me to be in conversation when we were not. I tried to explain, but it’s led to all this.” — Solomon Northrup

“I am. Return it. For what cause? I will do no such thing. The gory detail with which you speak.” — Solomon Northrup

“It is melancholia. Nothing more. How can you fall into such despair? There are others. Beg them. Why?! Why would you consign me to damnation with such an ungodly request?” — Solomon Northrup


Patsey, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Lupita Nyong'o

Patsey

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

1 win: 2014



Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

1 nomination: 2014

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

1 win: 2014



“The Sabbath day, I’s free to roam.”

“Platt. Platt, you awake? I have a request. An act of kindness. I secreted it from the mistress. It yours, Platt. All I ask: end my life. Take my body to the margin of the swamp. Take me by the throat, hold me low in the water until I is still and without life. Bury me in a lonely place of dying.”

“I thought on it long and hard. How can you not know? I ain’t got no comfort in this life. If I can’t buy mercy from you, I’ll beg it. I’m begging you. There is God here. God is merciful, and he forgive merciful acts. Won’t be no hell for you. Do it. Do what I ain’t got the strength to do myself.”

Anne Northrup, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Kelsey Scott

Anne Northrup

“It is the custom. I wonder what you’ll do without me. Darling, it’s good money. You don’t.”

“Stay safely. Ready?”

“I am. It’s beautiful. We will take it. Children, come see what your father has just purchased for me.”

Solomon’s Kids

“Ouch. I love you too, Papa.”

Brown, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Scott McNairy

Brown

“Sir. Well, taking into consideration his graciousness and your modesty, may we trouble you for a moment of your time to converse, sir?”

“Uh, ‘circus’ is too constricting a word to describe the talented and merry band with which we travel. It is a spectacle unlike most have ever witnessed. Uh, creatures from the darkest Africa as yet unseen by civilized man. Acrobats from the Orient who contort themselves in the most confounding manners. We are on our way thither to rejoin the company, having left for a short time to make a small profit from our own exhibitions. Ooh, yes. We had just a devil of a time in procuring music for our entertainments.”

“Men of true talents are seemingly in short supply. If we could persuade you to accompany us as far as Washington, we could give you one dollar for each day’s services and three dollars for every night played at our performances. In addition, we will provide sufficient pay for your return here to Saratoga, two weeks from today.”

“Hamilton, you’re… you’re too much. Oh, Solomon, $43. All to you. It’s been a most profitable week. Cheers. Another. And your talent is undeniable. Cheers.”

“Hamilton, we must hurry. Let him sleep, Hamilton. Hamilton, there’s nothing more we can do for him.”

Hamilton, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Taran Killam

Hamilton

“He was indeed.”

“That is our usual employee. The company currently in the city of Washington. And I myself in aide of Mr. Brown, an internationally renowned practitioner in the art of prestidigitation. The reason for our inquiry with Mr. Moon…”

“Welcome to Washington, Solomon.”

“Some say not enough. Cheers. Hmm, to Solomon.”

“Oh, it’s… it’s all right, Solomon. There’s no shame in it. No shame at all.”

“One too many libations. Halfway there. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. We won’t hear it. We won’t. Mmm. A good night’s rest. And tomorrow… tomorrow you will feel as well and refreshed as if the Earth were new again. Such is the pity.”

Burch, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Christopher Berry

Burch

“Well, boy, how you feel now? You’re not any free man. Resolve this. Produce your papers. You’re no free man. And you ain’t from Saratoga. You’re from Georgia. You ain’t a free man. You’re nothing but a Georgia runaway. You’re just a… runaway ****** from Georgia. You’re a slave! You’re a Georgia slave! Are you a slave?”

“Come on, get up. I said get up! No, I don’t want to hear you talk! Get in the yard. Hurry up, line up! Boy! I don’t want to hear a word out of none of you. Not a one. Let’s go. Move. Get up. Come on, child, come on. Follow your mama. Come on, boy. Get out of that wagon. Come on. Get up. Now, get up that gangplank. All right, come on. Move it, boy.”

“Now, keep your mouth shut.”

Radburn, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Bill Camp

Radburn

“That old thing of yours is just rags and tatters. You need something proper to wear. Go on, put it on. There. That’s fine. That’s fine. Got no gratitude? Well, rags and tatters, rags and tatters.”

“Go on, wash up. The boy, too, get him clean. Scrub, now. And hush him up. Hush him up.”

“Ain’t no need for all that. Just taking a little trip, that’s all. Don’t want to frighten the children over a little boat ride, do you? All right, come on. Come on. Come on, up these stairs. Off we go now. Up the stairs. Come on, let’s go. We got to go. Get up that gangplank. Come on, now.”

“Hey, you, go on, get up. Sit down right there. Ooh-wee! Come on. Right there, just sit down.”

Robert, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Michael K. Williams

Robert

“I say we fight. All’s I know, if we get where we’re traveling, we’ll wish we’d died trying.”

Freeman, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Paul Giamatti

Freeman

“Very good, very good. Let’s see here. Eliza. Stand up when you hear your name. Eliza. Lethe. John. Oren. Platt. Stand up. You fit the description given. Why didn’t you answer when called? Your name is Platt. Captain, get these ******* to my cart.”

“I believe I have something very much to your liking in the back room. Follow me please. Yes. Now, inspect them at your leisure, but I ask you to pay particular regard to young Ezra here. Incredibly sound limbs. I have never seen anything quite like him. And this marvelous creature. Can you believe it, hmm? She’ll make a fine lady’s maid, huh? Madam? So inspect at your leisure, take your time, help yourself to refreshments.”

“Gentlemen, what catches your fancy here, hmm? This boy, yes? Open your mouth. Open wider. Look in there. Never been sick a day in his life. And I call particular attention to Martha. She is an excellent pastry cook. Ah, Mr. Ford. Splendid seeing you, sir. What catches your fancy? This lad? He’s very brawny, yeah?”

“Ah, yes. A thousand for Platt. Uh… oh, this is a ****** of considerable talent, I assure you. $700 for Eliza, my fairest price. Oh, of course, from you, Mr. Ford. Eliza, quiet! Eliza. Stop it. I will give you something to cry about. Randall, come forward. Come, come, come, come, come. Now, do you see how fit this boy is, hmm? Like ripe fruit. May I take your stick a moment? Observe this. Randall, jump, jump, jump, run, run, run. Very good. Higher. Now, you see this? And it’s very likely he will grow into a fine beast. Uh, $600 for the boy, fair and final. Ah, superb.”

“Uh, a moment, please. Mr. Ford. Eliza! Ah. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, I cannot sell the girl. No, there’s heaps and piles of money to be made from her. She’s a beauty, one of the regular bloods. None of your thick-lipped, bullet-headed, cotton-picking ******* here. My sentimentality extends the length of a coin. Now, do you take this lot, Mr. Ford, or do you pass on them? Sold. Eliza and Platt. Goddamn sniveling wench. Goddamn you. Get her out of here, Cape! Eliza. Get her out of here, goddamn it! Platt, get your fiddle. Play, play, play, play, play something. I will give you something to cry about, you goddamned wench! Get her out of here, Cape! Out now, now! Yes. Mr. Ford, a pleasure.”

Edwin Epps, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Michael Fassbender

Edwin Epps

“‘And that servant… which knew his lord’s will… which knew his lord’s will… …and prepared not himself… prepared not himself… neither did according to his will… shall be beaten with many stripes.’ Do you hear that? Stripes. That ****** that don’t obey his lord– that’s his master, do you see? That there ****** shall be beaten with many stripes. Now, ‘many’ signifies a great many. 40, 100… 150 lashes. That’s Scripture.”

“What you got for James? That’s real good, boy. That’s real good. How much can even an average ****** pick a day? This ****** ain’t even average. Five hundred and twelve! Your menfolk got no shame letting Patsey out-pick you. The day ain’t yet come she swing lower than 500 pounds. Queen of the fields, she is.”

“I ain’t done, Treach. Ain’t I owed a minute to luxuriate on the work Patsey done? Damn queen. Born and bred to the field. ****** among *******. And God gave her to me. A lesson in the rewards of righteous living. All be observant to that. All. Now, Treach. Now speak. Hit 145 yesterday. Pull her out. How much he pick yesterday? Get him out. Come on, get. Come on. Come on, boy, move.”

“Get up! We dance tonight! Get up! Get your fiddle, Platt! Get up! Come on! Get, get, get, get, get, get, get, get! Come on, Platt. Come on!”

“Come on, where’s your merriment? Move your feet! What’s all this? Sell little Pats? She pick with more vigor than any other ******. Choose another to go. I will not. Back to that hog’s trough where I found you? Do not set yourself up against Patsey, my dear. ‘Cause I will rid myself of you well before I do away with her.”

“What you looking at?! Damn woman. I won’t have my mood spoiled. I will not. Dance. Dance, I said! Come on! Pick it up, Platt. Play that fiddle, boy.”

“Pats. Patsey! Patsey! What did you just now tell her? What did you say to Pats? You’re a liar. You damn liar. I saw you talking with her. Tell me. I’ll cut your black throat! You come here. I said come here! Come here! Come on. Come on, let’s go. No, I’m not playing. Come on. Come on over here. You stay away from Pats, boy. It’s the Lord’s day. Ain’t nothing Christian in us carrying on like this. I concede to you. In the name of valor, help your master to his feet. I’m gonna kill you!”

“Hold on. What’s he been telling you? And he would know what of anything? I ain’t even spoken with him today. You lying ******, Platt. Have I? Have I? There. There’s all the truth he got. Damn ******.”

“Patsey.”

“I need nothing but her turn away. Whatever it was, it passed.”

“It’s a plague. It’s a plague. It’s damn biblical. Two seasons God done sent me a plague to smite me. What I done that God hates me so? It’s that godless lot. They brought this on me. I brought them God’s word, and heathens they are, they brung me God’s scorn.”

“Damn you! Damn you! Damn all y’all!”

Mistress Epps, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Sarah Paulson

Mistress Epps

“Sell her. You will sell the Negress. No other. Sell her. You will remove that black bitch from this property, or I’ll take myself back to Cheneyville.”

“Platt. Can you find your way to Bartholomew’s? This is a list of goods and sundries. You will take it to be filled and return immediately. Take your tag. Tell Bartholomew to add it to our debt. Where you from, Platt? Tell me again. Who were your master? Was he a learned man? He learn you to read? Don’t trouble yourself with it. Same as the rest; master brought you here to work, that’s all. Any more will earn you a hundred lashes.”

“Any trouble?”

“What… what’s the fuss? What is it? You can’t remain the Sabbath without her under your eye? You are a no-account bastard. A filthy, godless heathen. My bed is too holy for you to share. Of you misbegotten ways.”

“A moment from the dancing. Come sample what I baked for y’all. There will be none for you, Patsey. You see that? You see that look of insolence she give me? Are you blind or ignorant? It was hot, hateful scorn. It filled that black face. You tell me that you didn’t see it, it’s cause you choose not to look, or are you saying I lie? Is that how you are with the *******? Letting every ill thought fester inside them? Look at them. They foul with it. They foul with their hate. You let it be, it’s gonna come back to us in the dark of night. You want that? You want them black animals leave us gut like pigs in our own sleep? Oh, you are manless. A damn eunuch is there ever was. If you won’t stand for me, I pray you’d at least be a credit to your own kind and beat every foul thought from them. Beat it from them! Eat. Fill yourselves. And then we dance. I said, ‘eat.'”

Epps Estate

“♪ Oh, my Lord ♪”

“Thank you, mistress. Thank you, mistress. Thank you, mistress. Thank you, mistress. Thank you, mistress.”

Treach

“240 for Bob. 295 pounds. 182 for Platt. 200 pounds. 512 pounds for Patsey. 138 pounds… yes, sir. 138 pounds for Phebe. 206 pounds for George. Two twenty-nine.”

“It’s cotton worm.”

Epps’s Overseer

“Pick that cotton! Move along, now! Come on, Edward! Drive them *******! Pick that cotton! Move along, now! Hear? What are you doing, boy? Come on!”

William Ford, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Benedict Cumberbatch

William Ford

“How much for the ones Platt and Eliza? Hmm. You will accept a note? How much for the little girl? Well, you have no use for her. One so young will bring you no profit. Her child, man. For God’s sake, are you not sentimental in the least? I will take the ones Platt and Eliza. Splendid.”

“Mr. Chapin. Separated from her children. Couldn’t be helped. Mr. Chapin. Tomorrow you can take these two up to the mill, start them working. For now, make them adequate. Fix them a meal and have them rest themselves.”

“‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine. And then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him.'”

“Let the man say his piece.”

“Well, I’ll admit to being impressed even if you won’t. Collect a team and see what good you can do.”

“Platt, you are a marvel. What took you so long? Oh, thank you.”

“Mmm. Platt. No, my thanks to you. And it is the least of it. I hope it brings us both much joy over the years.”

“‘Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. And who so shall receive one such little child in my name… …offend one of these little ones, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.’ Amen.”

“Platt. Poor Platt.”

“I believe Tibeats is skulking about the premises somewhere. He wants you dead, and he will have it so. It’s no longer safe for you here. And I don’t believe you will remain passive if Tibeats attacks. I have transferred my debt to Edwin Epps. He will take charge… I-I cannot hear that. I’m trying to save your life! And… I have a debt to be mindful of. And that is to Edwin Epps now. Now, he is a hard man. Prides himself on being a ****** breaker. But truthfully, I could find no others who would take you. You’ve made a reputation of yourself. Whatever the circumstances, you are an exceptional ******, Platt. But I fear no good will come of it.”

Eliza, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Adepero Oduye

Eliza

“Randall. Are you all right? Are you all right? Oh, thank you, God.”

“No, no, don’t. Not my children!”

“Please, sir, do not divide my family. Do not take me unless you take my children as well. You will have the most faithful slave in me… …the most faithful slave that has ever lived, but I beg you not to separate us. Please. God, please.”

“No. Oh, God. Please. Please. Please, sir, please. Oh, my childrens. Please, ah, please. God, please. Oh, God. Please, please, p-please. Oh, God, no, I will not go without my children. You will not take them from me, please. Please, please, no! No, please, please! No, no! God, no! No, please, please! Why would you…?!”

“Oh, God… have you stopped crying for your children? You make no sounds, but will you ever let them go in your heart? Then who is distressed? Do I upset the master and the mistress? Do you care less about my loss than-than their well-being? He is a slaver. Under the circumstances, he is a slaver. But you truckle at his boot. You luxuriate in his favor. Oh, Ford is your opportunity? You think he does not know that you are more than you suggest? But he does nothing for you. Nothing! You are no better than prized livestock. Call for him. Call. Tell him of your previous circumstances, and see what it earns you, Solomon. So you’ve settled into your role as Platt, then?”

“I accuse you of nothing. I cannot accuse. I have done dishonorable things to survive, and for all of them, I have ended up here. No better than if I had stood up for myself. God forgive me. Oh, God. Solomon, let me weep for my children!”

“No, please, please! Please, Sam? Where am I going? Where am I going! Sam? Solomon! Solomon! Solomon! Solomon! Solomon!”

“When I say I had my master’s favor, you understand. And for nine years, he blessed me with every comfort and luxury in life. Silks and jewels, and even… servants to wait upon us. Such was our life. And the life of this beautiful girl I bore for him. But Master Berry’s daughter, she always looked at me with an unkind nature. And she hated Emily, no matter she and Emily were flesh of flesh. As Master Berry’s health failed, she gained power of the household, and… eventually, I was brought to the city under the false pretense of our free papers being executed. My poor children.”

John Tibeats, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Paul Dano

John Tibeats

“Now, for all of you raw ******* that don’t know, my name is John Tibeats, William Ford’s chief carpenter. You will refer to me as ‘master.’ Now, Mr. Chapin is the overseer on this plantation. You, too, will refer to him… as ‘master.’ So, clap your hands. Like this. Come on. Come on, now, clap your hands.”

” ♪ ****** run, ****** flew ♪ ****** tore his shirt in two ♪ Run, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well you better get away… ♪. That’s right. Like you mean it. ♪ Mmm, ****** run ♪ Run so fast, stove his head in a hornet’s nest ♪ Run, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well you better get away ♪ Run, ******, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well, you better get away ♪ Some folk say a ****** don’t steal ♪ I caught three in my cornfield ♪ One has a bushel and one has a peck ♪ One has a rope, it was hung around his neck ♪ Run, ******, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well, you better get away ♪ Run, ******, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well, you better get away ♪ Hey, Mr. Pattyroller, don’t catch me ♪ Catch that ****** behind that tree ♪ Run, ******, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well, you better get away ♪ Run, ******, run the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well you better get away ♪ Run, ******, run, the pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well, you better get away… ♪ Run, ******, run, the pattyroller’ll get you… ♪ Run, ******, run… ♪ Well, you better get away, run, ******, run ♪ The pattyroller’ll get you ♪ Run, ******, run, well, you better get away.”

“‘Materially diminished?’ Are you an engineer or a ******? Are you an engineer or are you a ******? It’s a scheme. Plenty of engineers have schemed similarly. The passes are too tight.”

“And you know what of transport and terraforming?”

“Make them boards flush. No, they is no such thing. Are you calling me a liar, boy? Oh, my, you are a brute. You are a dog. And no better for following instruction!”

“Well, then, you’ll be up at daybreak, you will procure a keg of nails from Chapin, and commence to putting on clapboards. Make them boards flush.”

“I thought I told you to commence to putting on clapboards. And didn’t I tell you to get a keg of nails? So you did. Goddamn you, I thought you knowed something! Oh, you black bastard. You… goddamn… black bastard… strip your clothes. Strip. You! You will not live to see another day, ******! Help! Help! Help! Murder! Murder! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! This ain’t done by half. I will have flesh.”

“You got no cause! Platt is mine, and mine to do with as I please! If you touch… oh.”

Clemens Ray, 12 Years a Slave, HBO Max, New Regency Productions, River Road Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment, New Regency Productions, Film4, Searchlight Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Chris Chalk

Clemens Ray

“Who, in your estimation, is that sympathetic ear? I’d be just as certain they’re counting the money paid for delivering you to this place. You know that? You know for certain who they were? The reality to come is us being transported southward. New Orleans if I was to venture. After we arrive, we’ll be put to market, and beyond that… well, I suppose, once in a slave state, there’s only one outcome. I don’t say that to give you empty agitation, John. Boy, our masters will not come for us.”

“If you want to survive, do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one you can read and write. Unless you want to be a dead ******.”

“Three can’t go against the whole crew. The rest here are *******, born and bred slaves. ******* ain’t got no stomach for a fight, not a damn one. Survival’s not about certain death. It’s about keeping your head down.”

“Better off. Better than us. Master. Master Ray, sir. Master Ray! Master. Master, Master Ray, sir.”

Mr. Parker

“Ah, Mr. Northrup, Mrs. Northrup. Solomon, could I interest you in a new cravat? Pure silk by way of the French. A year has passed already. Off to work at Sandy Hill again? I have just the thing. Something to suit your style and yet sturdy enough for the 40-mile round trip. Oh, one moment, sir, and you’ll be assisted. Sir. Oh, forgive me, Solomon, forgive me, Mrs. Northrup. A customer waits. Welcome, sir. Pay no attention to this gentleman’s nonsense. Good day.”

Mistress Platt

“Did you bring all those *******? Two of ’em? You got two? This one’s crying. Why is this one crying? Oh, dear. Poor, poor woman. Something to eat and some rest. Your children will soon be forgotten.”

“I cannot have that kind of depression about.”

Chapin

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Come on, now. Come on. Don’t dawdle.”

“Come on.”

“What is the matter? What is the matter? Do not stir. Do not leave the plantation, for if you run, I cannot protect you. Stay here.”

“Gentlemen, whoever moves that ******’s a dead man. I am the overseer on this plantation. William Ford holds the mortgage on Platt. If you hang him, he will lose his debt. You have no claim to his life. As for you two… if you have any regard for your own safety, I say be gone! Sam! Fetch the mule! Get Master Ford!”

Patroller

“Come here, boy. Come on. Come on. Where you going, boy? You’d best get there, then. Get there quick.”

Bartholomew’s

“Nice cotton threat and silk thread. And tobacco, two ounces. Foolscap paper.”

Master Shaw

“Platt Epps, good Sunday morning. You may.”

Mistress Shaw

“****** Platt. Drink of tea? Would you know of Master Epps’s consternation to be any lessened with your timely return? Anger’s his constant condition. Sit. Sit and drink the tea that offered. And what’n be Epss’s concern? Oh, little gossip on the Sabbath be fine. All things in moderation. He do. No doubt, if not born out of truth itself. He ain’t heard you. Got no cause to worry for my sensibilities. I ain’t felt the end of a lash in more years I can recall. I ain’t worked a field, neither. Where once I served, now I have others serving me. The cost to my current existence be Master Shaw broadcasting his affections and me enjoying the pantomime of his infidelity. If that what keep me from cotton-picking *******, that what it be. A small and reasonable price to be paid, for sure. I know what it like to be the object of Master’s predilections and peculiarities. A lusty visit in the night, or a visitation with the whip. Take comfort, Patsey. Good Lord will manage Epps. In his own time, good Lord will manage them all. The curse of the pharaohs were a poor example of what wait for the plantation class. This is nice.”

Ford Estate

“♪ When I ♪ Was young ♪ Too hot ♪ For me ♪ Too late ♪ For me ♪ I live ♪ Or die ♪ Lay down ♪ Lay down ♪ And cry ♪ Hey, boy ♪ I’m tired ♪ Sometimes ♪ I’m strong ♪ Yes, sir ♪ I’m tall ♪ Yes, sir ♪ My Lord ♪ My Lord ♪ My Lord… ♪ Sometimes ♪ My Lord ♪ They high… ♪ Too hot ♪ For me… ♪”

“Amen.”

Saratoga

“Jasper. My regrets for the intrusion, sir. Good day, sir. Jasper, out.”

John

“No. Yeah, for y’all, for y’all there ain’t nothing but that, but John wasn’t kidnapped. John’s wasn’t being held as debt, that’s all. Master pay his debt and John be redeemed. John, John is sorry for y’all, but that’s how it be. Where you’re going, you’re going without John.”

“John’s master gonna pay his debt. His master gonna pay his debt!”

Buyer

“Your price for the boy? Done.”

Randall

“Do you know when my mama will come? Mama, mama. Mama. Mama.”

“Mama. Mama.”

“Mama, Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!”

Ship

“Cheer up and don’t be so cast down.”

Driver

“Giddap. Wave bye.”

Jonus Ray

“I don’t see him. Clemens! Clemens Ray! Clemens! There he is. Who’s in charge here? I am Mr. Jonus Ray. My solicitor has documentation verifying the Negro known as Clemens Ray as my property. You are ordered to return that property immediately or be charged with thievery. Yes.”

Captain

“I am the captain. I know nothing of this arrangement. Free him. Get him back!”

Mr. Moon

“Devil call his name, there he is now. Mr. Northrup! I have two gentlemen whose acquaintance you should make. Misters Brown and Hamilton. Mr. Northrup, these two gentlemen were inquiring about distinguished individuals, and I was just this very moment saying Solomon Northrup is an expert player of the violin. Good day.”

Saratoga

“Good day, Mr. Northrup.”

Washington

“Good day.”

Plantation

“Yes, sir My Lord Sunshine My Lord Lord, Lord My ma She dead My pa He dead My Lord Sunshine My Lord Sunshine Is late Yes, sir And hot Yes, sir My Lord Sunshine Lord, Lord My ma She dead My pa He dead My Lord Sunshine My Lord…”

Overseer

“All right, now. Y’all fresh *******. Y’all gonna be in a cutting gang. Very simple. I want you to take your knife. Get in them cane. Make it sing. Take the cane out. Cut my tops. Clean the shucks off. Throw it on a pile for the planting gang. Now, them cane ain’t gonna jump up and bite you. Don’t shy back. Rush here, boys! Rush here!”


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