Original subtitles

OVERSEER: All right now. Y'all fresh niggers.

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!

MALE SLAVE: (SINGING) My Lord.

MALES SLAVES: Sunshine.

My Lord.

Lord, Lord.

My ma.

She dead.

My pa.

He dead.

My Lord.

Sunshine.

My Lord.

Sunshine.

Is late.

In high.

My Lord.

Sunshine.

My Lord.

Lord, Lord.

My ma.

She dead.

My pa.

He dead.

My Lord.

Sunshine.

My Lord.

Yes, sir

(BLOWING OUT CANDLES)

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

(CUP CLATTERS)

(SLAVES SNORING)

(SIGHING)

(BREATHING HEAVILY)

(GASPING)

(SOBBING)

(TUNING)

(SOLOMON HUMMING)

(PLAYING UPBEAT TUNE)

(MUSIC ENDS)

(CHUCKLING)

(PLAYING OFF-KEY)

All right, all right, all right, all right.

Into bed.

Into bed. Thank you for the music.

Come on. Ouch.

Get in there. Come on.

Give me a kiss.

I love you, Margaret.

I love you, too.

Sleep well.

(BLOWING) I'll take this.

I don't want to hear any more noise.

(CHILDREN GIGGLING)

(SIGHS) Three weeks and two days.

It is the custom.

I wonder what you will do without me.

I won't stay idle.

Darling, it's good money.

If only I didn't have to share your cooking with other people.

You don't.

(GRUNTS)

Be good for your mother. Okay, Alonzo?

Can I get a kiss, please? Thank you.

Travel safely.

Stay safely.

Ready?

(DRIVER URGING HORSES)

(CHILDREN LAUGHING) (BELLS TOLLING)

MR. MOON: Devil call his name, there he is now.

Mr. Northup!

I have two gentlemen whose acquaintance you should make.

Misters Brown and Hamilton.

Sir.

Mr. Northup, these two gentlemen...

were inquiring about distinguished individuals...

and I was just this very moment...

saying Solomon Northup is an expert player on the violin.

He was indeed.

Mr. Moon is being overly gracious.

Well, taking into consideration

his graciousness and your modesty...

may we trouble you for a moment of your time to converse, sir?

Of course.

Good day.

SOLOMON: A circus?

That is our usual employee.

The company currently in the city of Washington.

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.

Creatures from the darkest Africa

as yet unseen by civilized man.

Acrobats from the Orient...

who contort themselves in the most confounding manners.

(LAUGHS) And I myself in aide of Mr. Brown...

an internationally renowned practitioner

in the art of prestidigitation.

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.

The reason for our inquiry with Mr. Moon...

Yes. We had just a devil of a time

in procuring music for our entertainments.

Men of true talents are seemingly in short supply.

Thank you, sir.

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 would provide sufficient pay...

for your return here to Saratoga, two weeks from today.

Welcome to Washington, Solomon.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

(ALL LAUGHING)

Hamilton, you know too much.

Some say not enough.

Solomon, 43 dollars. All to you.

That is far more than my wages amount to.

BROWN: It's been a most profitable week, sir.

Cheers. Cheers.

Cheers.

Another.

Gentlemen, your generosity is extraordinary.

And your talents are undeniable.

Mmm. To Solomon.

Cheers.

(CHAINS RATTLING)

(RATTLING CONTINUES)

Ugh! (GROANING)

It's all right, Solomon.

There's no shame in it.

No shame at all.

(GRUNTING)

(WHISPERS) Hamilton, we must hurry. (SOLOMON GROANING)

One too many libation.

(SOLOMON COUGHS) We're halfway there.

(CHAINS RATTLING LOUDLY)

(GRUNTING)

(PANTING)

SOLOMON: So sorry...

(SHUSHING)

We won't hear it. We won't.

Let him sleep, Hamilton.

Mmm. A good night's rest.

And tomorrow...

tomorrow you will feel as well and refreshed

as if the earth were new again.

(SCOFFS) Hamilton, there's nothing more we can do for him.

Such is the pity.

(BLOWING)

(GASPING)

(DOOR OPENS)

Well, boy, how do you feel now?

My name... My name is Solomon Northup.

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.

You're not any free man.

And I promise you...

I promise you upon my liberation

I will have satisfaction for this wrong.

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 nigger...

from Georgia.

(GRUNTS) (GROANS)

(PANTING)

(GROANING)

You're a slave!

You're a Georgia slave!

(SCREAMING)

(PANTING)

Are you a slave?

No.

(GROANING)

(GRUNTING)

(SOBBING IN PAIN)

(GASPING)

(DOOR CLOSES) (LOCK CLICKS)

(SOLOMON GROANING)

(CHAINS RATTLING)

SOLOMON: (SOBBING) Help.

Help me.

Help me!

Somebody help me!

Help!

Help!

(DOOR OPENS)

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?

No. That's from my wife.

Rags and tatters.

Rags and tatters.

(DOOR CLOSES)

Go on, wash up.

The boy, too. Get him clean.

Scrub now.

Do you know when my mama will come?

Hush him up!

Mama! Mama!

Quiet.

Quiet, please. Mama!

Hush him up!

Your mother will come, I swear she will. But you must be silent.

Be silent.

We need a sympathetic ear.

(RANDALL HUMMING)

An opportunity to explain our situation.

Who, in your estimation, is that sympathetic ear?

The two men I journeyed with.

I'm certain they're making enquiries at this very moment.

I'd be just as certain they're counting

the money paid for delivering you to this place.

They were not kidnappers, they were artists. Fellow performers.

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.

No.

I don't say that to give you empty agitation, John.

For y'all, there ain't nothing but that.

But John wasn't kidnapped.

John's just being held as debt, that's all.

Master pay his debt and John be redeemed.

Boy, our masters will not come for us.

John is sorry for y'all, but that's how it be.

Where you're going, you're going without John.

RANDALL: Mama! Randall!

Mama!

Are you all right?

Are you all right?

Thank you, God.

(DOOR OPENS) Come on. Get up.

I said, get up! ELIZA: No, don't...

I don't want to hear you talk! Get in the yard.

Not my children!

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?

John's master gonna pay his debt.

Line up!

His master gonna pay his debt!

(JOHN GROANING)

I don't want to hear a word out of none of you!

Not a one.

All right, come on.

Move. Come on.

Come on, child. Come on.

Follow your mama.

Come on, boy.

RADBURN: Up these stairs.

BURCH: Get down out of that wagon. Come on.

Come on. Move it!

Let's go!

Up, up, up the stairs.

Come on, let's go.

Come on, move it!

All right, come on.

RADBURN: Hey, you. Get up.

Sit down, right there.

(BURCH LAUGHING)

Come on.

Right there. Just sit down.

Cheer up and don't be so cast down.

(DOOR SLAMS)

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 nigger.

(DOOR OPENS)

MAN: Now keep your mouth shut.

I say we fight.

The crew is fairly small.

Were it well planned, I believe they could be strong-armed.

Three can't go against the whole crew.

The rest here are niggers.

Born and bred slaves.

Niggers ain't got no stomach for a fight.

Not a damn one.

All's I know, if we get where we're traveling...

we'll wish we'd died trying.

Survival's not about certain death,

it's about keeping your head down.

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.

(LAUGHS)

(STABS)

(SCREAMING)

Better off.

Better than us.

I don't see him.

Clemens!

Clemens Ray! Master.

Clemens! Master Ray, sir!

Master Ray!

JONUS: Who's in charge here?

I'm the captain!

I'm Mr. Jonus Ray.

My solicitor has documentation...

verifying the negro known as Clemens Ray is my property.

I know nothing of this arrangement.

JONUS: You are ordered to return that property

immediately or be charged with thievery.

Free him!

Master.

Master Ray, sir.

Clemens!

Clemens! CAPTAIN: Get him back!

Clemens!

Clemens!

Clemens!

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

(SINGING)

Mr. Parker.

Ah, Mr. Northup. Mrs. Northup.

Solomon, could I interest you in a new cravat?

Pure silk, by way of the French.

We're in need of a fresh carryall for my Mrs.'s travels.

Nothing more.

The year has passed already.

Off to work at Sandy Hill again?

I am.

I have just the thing.

Something to suit your style...

and yet sturdy enough for the 40-mile round trip.

It's beautiful.

At what price?

We will take it.

Children, come see what you father has just purchased for me.

MR. PARKER: One moment, sir, and you'll be assisted.

Mr. Parker. Sir?

If we could discuss the price.

Oh, forgive me, Solomon. Forgive me, Mrs. Northup.

A customer waits. Welcome, sir.

SOLOMON: Shop well, sir, but mind your wallet.

MR. PARKER: Pay no attention to this gentleman's nonsense.

Jasper!

My regrets for the intrusion, sir.

SOLOMON: No intrusion.

Good day, sir.

MR. PARKER: Good day.

Jasper, out.

Very good. Very good.

Let's see, here. Eliza!

Stand up when you hear your name. Eliza.

Lethe!

John.

Oren.

Platt.

Platt.

(SIGHS) Stand up.

You fit the description given.

Why didn't you answer when called?

My name is not Platt.

My name...

Your name is Platt.

Captain, get these niggers to my cart.

(INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS)

Mmm.

(CHUCKLES)

Move.

FREEMAN: 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? Mmm?

She'll make a fine lady's maid.

Madam? (CHUCKLES)

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.

How much for the ones Platt and Eliza?

Ah, yes.

A thousand for Platt. Uh... Oh.

This is a nigger of considerable talent, I assure you.

700 for Eliza.

My fairest price.

Mmm.

You will accept a note?

Please, sir. Do not divide my family.

Do not take me unless you take my children.

Eliza! Quiet!

You will have the most faithful slave in me.

The most faithful slave that has ever lived.

But I beg that you do not separate us.

Your price for the boy?

Eliza! Stop it!

I will give you something to cry about.

Randall, come forward. Come, come, come.

Now, do you see how fit this boy is?

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.

It's very likely he will grow into a fine beast.

600 for the boy.

Fair and final.

Done.

Superb. A moment, please.

Mr. Ford.

Please. Eliza!

How much for the little girl?

Ah...

You have no use for her.

One so young will bring you no profit.

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-heated, cotton-picking niggers, here.

Her child, man.

Please.

For God's sake, are you not sentimental in the least?

My sentimentality extends the length of a coin.

God, please.

Now do you take this lot, Mr. Ford, or do you pass on them?

Please, please. Please.

I will take the ones Platt and Eliza.

Sold, Eliza and Platt.

I will not go without my children!

Goddamn sniveling wench!

You will not take them from me!

God damn you! Get her out of here, Cape! (CHILDREN SCREAMING)

Please! No! No!

Get her out of here, god damn it!

Platt, get your fiddle. Play, play, play something.

I will give you something to cry about, you goddamned witch!

Get her out of here, Cape! Out, now!

(PLAYING LIVELY TUNE) CHILDREN: Mama! Mama! Mama!

Yes.

Mr. Ford, a pleasure.

(CHILDREN CONTINUE SCREAMING)

Did you bring all those niggers?

Two of them? You got two?

FORD: Mr. Chapin. (SOBBING)

MISTRESS FORD: This one's crying. Why is this one crying?

FORD: Separated from her children.

Oh, dear. It couldn't be helped.

Poor, poor woman.

Mr. Chapin. Yes, sir.

Tomorrow, you have to take these two

up to the mill and start them working.

For now, make them adequate.

Fix them a meal and have them rest themselves.

Yes, sir.

Come on, now.

Come on! Don't dawdle!

Something to eat, and some rest.

Your children will soon be forgotten.

For all of you raw niggers that don't know...

my name is John Tibeats, William Ford's chief carpenter.

You will refer to me as "Master."

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.

(SINGING) Nigger run Nigger flew.

Nigger tore his shirt in two.

Run, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

TIBEATS: That's right. Like you mean it.

(SINGING) Nigger run Run so fast.

Stove his head in a hornet's nest.

Run, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

Run, nigger, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

Some folk say a nigger don't steal.

I caught three in my corn field.

One has a bushel And one has a peck.

One has a rope It was hung around his neck.

Run, nigger, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

Run, nigger, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

Hey, Mr. Pattyroller Don't catch me.

Catch that nigger behind that tree.

Run, nigger, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

Run, nigger, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away.

Run, nigger, run The pattyroller will get you.

Run, nigger, run Well, you better get away

"I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac..."

"and the God of Jacob."

(RUN NIGGER RUN CONTINUES PLAYING)

"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."

(MEN WHOOPING)

(PLAYING RHYTHMIC TUNE)

(WHOOPING CONTINUES)

SOLOMON: 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...

"Materially diminished"?

If we use the waterway.

Are you an engineer, or a nigger?

Are you an engineer, or a nigger?

Let the man say his piece.

It's a scheme. Plenty of engineers have schemed similarly.

The passes are too tight.

I reckon them at more than 12 feet at their most narrow.

Wide enough for a tub to traverse

if a team of niggers cleared it out.

And you know what of transport and terraforming?

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.

Well, I'll admit to being impressed even if you won't.

Collect a team. See what good you can do.

(SLAVES SINGING)

You good? Clear it out!

Two, three...

(BOTH GRUNTING)

SLAVES: (SINGING) Too late for me.

I live or die.

Lay down and cry.

Hey, boy I'm tired.

My lord Sometimes.

I'm strong Yes, sir.

I'm tall Yes, sir

(APPLAUDING)

Platt, you are a marvel.

(GRUNTING)

What took you so long? (CHUCKLES)

Thank you, Master Ford.

(ALL CONGRATULATING)

(WHOOPING)

FORD: Platt.

(SIGHS)

My great thanks, Master Ford.

No, my thanks to you.

And it is the least of it.

I hope it brings us both much joy over the years.

(STRUMMING)

(SOBBING)

God!

Eliza.

Eliza.

Stop!

Stop your wailing!

If you let yourself be overcome

by sorrow, you will drown in it.

Have you stopped crying for your children?

You make no sounds, but will you ever let them go in your heart?

They are as my flesh.

Then who is distressed?

Do I upset the master and the mistress?

Do you care less about my loss than their well-being?

Master Ford is a decent man.

He is a slaver!

Under the circumstances.

Under the circumstances, he is a slaver.

But you truckle at his boot.

You luxuriate in his favor.

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!

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?

(DISHES CLATTERING)

My back is thick with scars...

for protesting my freedom.

Do not accuse me.

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 stood up for myself.

God, forgive me.

Solomon, let me weep for my children!

(SOBBING)

FORD: Whosoever, therefore, shall humble

"himself as this little child..."

"the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (ELIZA WAILING)."

"And who so shall receive one such little child in my name..."

I cannot have that kind of depression about.

"But who so shall offend one of these little ones..."

"it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck..."

(SOBBING)

"and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

Amen.

ALL: Amen.

Make them boards flush.

They are, sir.

No, they is no such thing.

They are as smooth to the touch as a yearling's coat.

Are you calling me a liar, boy?

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.

Oh, my, you are a brute.

You are a dog. (SHOUTS)

And no better for following instruction!

I do as ordered.

Then you'll be up at daybreak.

You will procure a keg of nails from Chapin...

and commence to putting on clapboards.

Yes, sir.

Make them boards flush.

ELIZA: No, please! Please, Sam!

Where am I going? Where am I going, Sam?

Solomon! Solomon!

Solomon!

Solomon!

(SOBBING)

Solomon!

ELIZA: 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.

(BELL TOLLING)

(HAMMERING)

I thought I told you to commence to putting on clapboards.

Yes, Master, I'm about it. These have all been replaced.

And didn't I tell you to get a keg of nails?

And so, I did.

So, you did.

God damn you. I thought you knowed something!

I did as instructed.

If there's something wrong, it's wrong with the instruction.

You black bastard.

You goddamn black bastard.

Strip your clothes.

Strip.

I will not.

(BOTH GRUNTING)

(TIBEATS GROANS)

You will not live to see another day, nigger!

Help!

(SCREAMING)

Murder!

I'm sorry!

I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

(WHIMPERING)

CHAPIN: What is the matter?

What is the matter?

Master Tibeats wants to whip me

for using the nails you gave me.

(SPITS)

This ain't done by half.

I will have flesh.

And I will have all of it!

(PANTING)

CHAPIN: Do not stir.

Do not leave the plantation. For, if you run, I cannot protect you.

Stay here.

(PANTING)

(HORSES APPROACHING)

(GROANING)

(CHOKING)

Gentlemen, whoever moves that nigger is a dead man.

(GASPING)

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!

You got no 'cause!

Platt is mine, and mine to do with as I please!

If you touch... (COCKS GUN)

(PANTING)

Sam!

Fetch the mule. Get Master Ford.

(CONTINUES PANTING)

(COUGHS)

(CHILDREN LAUGHING)

(GASPING)

(HORSE APPROACHING)

Platt. Poor Platt.

(GRUNTS)

(DOOR CLOSES)

(DOOR OPENS)

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... (HORSE NEIGHING)

Master Ford.

You must know that I'm not a slave.

I cannot hear that.

Before I came to you, I was a freeman.

I'm trying to save your life!

And I have a debt to be mindful of.

And that is to Edwin Epps now.

And he is a hard man. Prides himself on being a nigger 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 nigger, Platt.

But I fear no good will come of it.

"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 nigger that don't obey his lord...

That's his master, do you see?

That there nigger shall be beaten with many stripes.

Now, "many" signifies a great many.

40, 100, 150 lashes.

That's scripture.

(WOMAN HUMMING)

(ALL HUMMING)

EDWARD: Pick that cotton.

Move along, now. (WHIP CRACKS)

TREACH: Come on, Edward! Drive them niggers!

Pick that cotton! Move along, now.

TREACH: What are you doing, boy? Come on!

TREACH: 240 for Bob.

EPPS: What you got for James?

295 pounds.

That's real good, boy. That's real good.

182 for Platt.

How much can even an average nigger pick a day?

200 pounds.

This nigger ain't even average.

512 pounds for Patsey.

512!

You menfolk got no shame letting Patsey out-pick you.

The day ain't yet come she swung lower than 500 pounds.

Queen of the fields, she is.

TREACH: 138 pounds...

I ain't done, Treach.

Ain't I owed a minute to luxuriate on the work Patsey done?

Yes, sir.

Damn queen.

Born and bred to the field.

A nigger among niggers.

And God gave her to me.

A lesson in the rewards of righteous living.

All be observant to that.

All!

Now, Treach. Now speak.

138 pounds for Phebe.

Hit 145 yesterday. Pull her out.

206 pounds for George.

How much he pick yesterday?

229.

Get him out.

Come on, get.

Come on.

EPPS: Come on, boy, move!

(WHIP CRACKING)

(MAN GROANING) (WOMAN GROANING)

(HUMMING)

(FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING)

(DOOR OPENS)

(SINGING)

Get up!

We dance tonight! Get up!

Get your fiddle, Platt. Get up!

Come on! Get, get, get!

Come on, Platt. Come on!

(UPBEAT FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYING)

(EPPS CLAPPING)

Come on, where's your merriment? Move your feet!

(GROANS) (MUSIC STOPS)

MISTRESS EPPS: Sell her. (PATSEY SOBBING)

EPPS: What's all this?

You will sell the negress.

Sell little Pats?

She pick with more vigor than any other nigger.

Choose another to go.

No other.

Sell her.

I will not.

You will remove that black bitch from this property...

or I'll take myself back to Cheneyville.

(SOBBING CONTINUES)

Back to that hog's trough where I found you?

Do not set yourself up against Patsey, my dear.

Because 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. (MUSIC RESUMES)

Dance, I says! (GROANING)

Come on!

Pick it up, Platt. Play that fiddle, boy.

(EPPS WHOOPING)

(BLOWING)

MISTRESS EPPS: Platt.

Yes, Mistress?

Can you find your way to Bartholomew's?

I can, ma'am.

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.

Yes, Mistress.

Where you from, Platt?

I told you.

Tell me again.

Washington.

Who were your master?

Master name a Freeman.

Was he a learned man?

I suppose so.

He learn you to read?

A word, here or there.

But I have no understanding of the written...

Don't trouble yourself with it.

Same as the rest. Master brought you here to work, that's all.

Any more will earn you 100 lashes.

(PANTING)

(DOG WHIMPERING)

Come here, boy.

Come on.

Where you going, boy?

On my way to Bartholomew's.

Sent by Mistress Epps.

You best get there, then.

Get there quick.

(MEN CHOKING)

(DOG BARKING)

(SHOPKEEPER MUTTERING)

Any trouble?

No, ma'am. No trouble.

(PANTING)

Platt Epps, good Sunday morning.

Good morning, Master Shaw.

Master sent me to retrieve Patsey. May I approach?

You may.

(PANTING)

(WOMEN LAUGHING)

Excuse me, Mistress Shaw.

Nigger Platt.

Patsey, Master wishes you to return.

The Sabbath day, I is free to roam.

Master sent me running to fetch you, said no time should be wasted.

Drink of tea?

Thank you, Mistress, but I don't dare.

Would you know of Master Epps' consternation...

to be any lessened with your timely return?

Anger's his constant condition.

Sit.

Sit and drink the tea that I offered.

What'n be Epps' concern?

(SIGHS)

I'd rather not say.

Oh, little gossip on the Sabbath be fine. All things in moderation.

As you are aware...

Master Epps is a man of hard countenance.

You know he has ill feeling towards your husband.

He do.

Master Epps has somehow come to believe...

that Master Shaw is something of a lothario.

A misguided belief, no doubt.

No doubt...

if not born out of truth itself.

I meant no disrespect.

He ain't heard you.

SOLOMON: I meant no disrespect to you, Mistress.

(LAUGHS)

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 fidelity.

If that what keep me from cotton picking niggers, 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.

The good Lord will manage Epps.

In His own time, the 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.

EPPS: Pats. Patsey!

Do not look in his direction. Continue on.

Patsey! Found her, Master.

And brought her back, just as instructed.

What did you just now tell her?

What did you say to Pats?

No words were spoken, none of consequence.

You're a liar.

You damn liar.

I saw you talking with her.

Tell me.

I cannot speak of what did not occur.

I'll cut your black throat!

Master!

You come here.

Master Epps. I said come here!

I brought her back, just like you...

Come here! Master!

Master.

I got her, just as instructed.

Master EPPS!

You stay away from Pats, boy.

(PIGS SQUEALING)

Master Epps.

(GROANS)

(LAUGHING)

(PANTING)

(CONTINUES LAUGHING)

It's the Lord's day.

Ain't nothing Christian in us carrying on like this.

(PANTING)

I concede to you.

In the name of valor...

help your master to his feet.

I'm gonna kill you!

MISTRESS EPPS: What's the fuss?

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.

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.

What's he been telling you?

Of your misbegotten ways.

And he would know what of anything?

I ain't even spoken with him today.

You lying nigger, Platt.

Have I?

Have I?

There. There's all the truth he got.

Damn nigger.

(GRUNTS)

(PANTING)

(GRUNTS)

(PANTING)

Patsey.

(CHOKING)

(GASPING)

(UPBEAT FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYING)

MISTRESS EPPS: A moment from the dancing.

Come sample what I baked for y'all.

MEN: Thank you, Mistress.

WOMEN: Thank you, Mistress.

There will be none for you, Patsey.

You see that?

You see that look of insolence she give me?

I seen nothing but her turn away.

Are you blind or ignorant?

It was hot, hateful scorn.

It filled that black face.

You tell me you didn't see it...

it's because you choose not to look, or are you saying I lie?

Whatever it was, it passed.

Is that how you are with the niggers?

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 if 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.

(SCREAMING)

Beat it from them!

(PATSEY WHIMPERING)

MISTRESS EPPS: Eat.

Fill yourselves.

And then we dance.

I said, eat.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

Platt. (GASPS)

Platt, you awake?

I am.

I have a request.

An act of kindness.

I secreted it from the mistress.

Return it.

It yours, Platt.

For what 'cause?

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 will do no such thing.

The gory detail with which you speak...

I thought on it long and hard.

It is melancholia.

Nothing more.

How can you fall into such despair?

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.

There are others.

Beg them. I'm begging you.

Why?

Why would you consign me to damnation with such an ungodly request?

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.

EPPS: It's a plague.

TREACH: It's cotton worm.

It's a plague. It's damn biblical.

Two seasons God done sent a plague to smite me.

What I done that God hates me so?

It's that godless lot.

They brought this on me.

I bring them God's word and heathens

they are, they brung me God's scorn.

Damn!

Damn you!

Damn all y'all!

Judge.

Mister Epps.

I am deeply saddened to hear about your misfortune.

Your price don't reflect your concern.

Listen up.

You're Judge Turner's for the season.

More, if need be, until my crops return.

Y'all bring no disrespect to me.

Don't bring no biblical plagues to him, you hear?

Or I'll take it out on your skin.

Get out.

Get off the porch. You ain't supposed to be on the porch.

Get off the porch.

Platt, is it?

Yes, sir.

You cultivate cane previously?

No, sir, I have not.

It comes to you quite naturally.

Are you educated?

No, sir. Niggers are hired to work, not read or write.

You play the fiddle.

Yes, sir. Yes, I do.

Willard Yarner, a planter up the bayou...

celebrates his anniversary in three weeks' time.

I'll hold out your name to him.

What you earn is yours to keep.

Yes, sir.

Mind yourself, Platt.

(SOFT FIDDLE MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC FADES)

Whoa!

Joyous day.

Joyous day.

Dark times is behind us.

Clean living and prayer done lifted the plague!

As thick and white as New England snow.

Now, my niggers is returned to me.

Heard Judge Turner gave you favor.

Did you beguile him, Platt, with your slick nigger ways?

You won't stand idle, boy.

Not on my land.

Much work to do!

Days of old long since, huh?

Joyous.

Joyous, indeed! Whoo!

Let's go find something sweet for you. Hmm?

Mmm-hmm.

Candy.

Candy?

(SINGING) Oh, pick this cotton.

SLAVES: Pick this cotton.

Oh, pick this cotton.

Oh, pick that cotton.

Man ain't mean, boys.

SLAVES: Man ain't mean, boys.

Man ain't mean, boys.

Man ain't mean.

Oh, work this cotton.

Work this cotton.

Oh, work this cotton.

Work this cotton.

Oh, work ain't hard, boys.

EPPS: George.

TREACH: 180 pounds.

Patsey.

520 pounds for Patsey.

That's my girl. Don't ever let me down.

Platt?

160 pounds.

Armsby?

64 pounds.

A good day's labor would average 200 pounds.

Yes, sir.

I'm sure in time, you'll develop as a picker.

But it takes effort, boy.

Put some damn effort into it.

Yes, sir.

Take them out, get to whipping.

(GROANING)

ARMSBY: It's a tragedy.

How does such come to pass?

Working a field and picking cotton like a lowly hand.

I'm of a damn sight better station.

I worked as an overseer, you know.

I did not know, sir.

Not "sir."

Just "Armsby."

I'm not owed more than any other in the field.

How did you arrive at such a place, if I may ask?

Ask, it's just conversation.

I became a little too dependent on the whiskey...

a little too undependable on the job.

Now, before you say I'm just a sorry drunkard...

let me state my case.

As reliable employment as overseeing is,

it is no easy chore on the spirit.

I say, no man of conscious...

can take the lash to another human day in and day out...

without shredding at his own self.

Takes him to a place...

where he either makes excuses within his mind to be unaffected...

or he finds some way to trample his guilty sensations.

So, I trampled.

With frequency.

I gave in to tales of wealth and prosperity.

But such profitable outcomes are reserved for plantation masters.

It's the lot of the rest of us to serve.

Now, all I want is to earn a decent wage and get myself home.

(DOOR OPENING)

The proceeds of my fiddling performances.

Just a few picayunes, but all I have in the world.

I promise them to you if you will do me the favor I require.

But I beg you not to expose me if you cannot grant the request.

Uh...

What is it you ask?

First, your word, sir.

On my honor.

It's a simple enough request.

I only ask that you deposit a letter

at the post office in Marksville...

and that you keep the action an inviolable secret forever.

A patron is what I require, sir.

I'll do it.

And I'll accept whatever payment's offered.

To assist you, I put my own self at risk.

I will do so...

but fair compensation is all I ask.

Draw up your letter.

We'll meet again in two days?

In two days.

Thank you.

(BLOWING)

Well, boy...

I understand I got a learned nigger that writes letters.

Tries to get white fellas to mail them.

(LAUGHS)

Armsby told me today...

the devil was among my niggers.

That I had one that needed watching...

or he would run away.

When I asked him why...

he said you come over to him...

waked him up in the middle of the night...

and wanted him to carry a letter...

to Marksville.

What do you got to say to that?

There's no truth to it.

You say.

How could I write a letter without ink or paper?

Who am I gonna write to? I got no friends living as I know of.

That Armsby...

That Armsby is a lying, drunken fellow.

Didn't he want you to hire him as an overseer?

Well, that's it.

He wants to make you believe we're all gonna run away...

so you'll hire him as an overseer.

He believes you're a soft soap.

And he's given to such talk.

Made this story out of whole cloth...

because he wants a situation.

It's all a lie, Master.

It's all a lie.

I'll be damned.

Were he not free and white, Platt.

Were he not free and white.

(SOLOMON SIGHS)

WOMAN: (SINGING) Sun gonna set here.

SLAVES: Under the mountain.

Sun gonna set here.

Under the mountain.

Sun gonna set here.

Under the mountain (GROANS)

TREACH: Edward!

Get him water.

(SLAVES CONTINUE SINGING)

Get up!

Get up!

Nigger, get up!

What you looking at, boy?

Keep picking, boy!

I just wanna say something about Uncle Abram.

He was a good man...

and he always looked out for us ever since we were little.

God love him.

God bless him. God keep him.

Amen.

(SINGING) Went down to the River Jordan.

Where John baptized three.

When I woke the devil in hell.

Said Johnny baptized me.

I said roll, Jordan, roll.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Well, some say John was a Baptist.

Some say John was a Jew.

But I say John was a preacher

'Cause my Bible says so too.

I said roll, Jordan, roll.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Hallelujah.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Hallelujah.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Everybody say.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Oh, children.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Hallelujah.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

BASS: Right to the end.

Hey, Bass.

Oh, no, no, no.

EPPS: No shame in taking respite from the heat.

Drink, shade.

It's ungodly for travelers, hearty or otherwise.

(LAUGHING)

What's funny?

Epps, I merely mean to finish the work at hand, as requested.

And as paid for.

If something rubs you wrongly...

I offer you the opportunity to speak on it.

You ask plainly, so I will tell you plainly.

What amused me just then was your concern for my well-being in this heat...

when, quite frankly, the condition of your laborers...

"The condition of my laborers"?

BASS: It is horrid. It's all wrong.

All wrong, Mr. Epps.

They ain't hired help.

They're my property.

You say that with pride.

I say it as fact.

If this conversation concerns what is factual

and what is not, then it must be said...

that there is no justice nor righteousness in their slavery.

But you do open up an interesting question.

What right have you to your niggers,

when you come down to the point?

What right? Mmm.

I bought them. I paid for them.

Of course you did, and the law says

you have the right to hold a nigger.

But begging the law's pardon, it lies.

Suppose they pass a law taking away

your liberty, making you a slave.

Suppose.

That ain't a supposable case.

Laws change, Epps.

Universal truths are constant.

It is a fact, a plain and simple fact...

that what is true and right is true and right for all.

White and black alike.

You comparing me to a nigger, Bass?

I'm only asking, in the eyes of God, what is the difference?

You might as well ask what the difference is

between a white man and a baboon.

I seen one of them critters in Orleans.

Know just as much as any nigger I got.

BASS: Listen, Epps.

These niggers are human beings.

If they are allowed to climb no higher than brute animals...

you and men like you will have to answer for it.

There is an ill, Mr. Epps...

a fearful ill resting upon this nation.

And there will be a day of reckoning yet.

You like to hear yourself talk, Bass...

better than any man I know of.

You'd argue that black was white, or white, black...

if anybody would contradict you.

A fine supposition if you lived among Yankees in New England.

But you don't.

You most assuredly do not.

(EPPS YELLING)

(LOUD CLATTERING)

EPPS: I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!

Patsey!

Pats!

Where is she?

Where's Pats?

Where is she, damn it? Where is she?

Phebs, where is she? Where is Patsey? Where is she?

What you standing there for?

We know nothing of her, Master.

Know nothing of what? We know nothing of...

Of what? Where has she gone?

She run off, ain't she?

I don't know, Master.

Where is she? I don't know, Master.

You know, you know, you know!

You know!

No, I don't! (GROANS)

(PANTING)

You miserable black dogs.

You stand like the deaf and dumb.

Speak!

(SOBBING)

She gone.

My Pats is gone.

Run off? Run off, did you?

Master Epps... You miserable wench. Where you been?

I been nowhere!

Lies to your misdeeds!

The Sabbath day, Master. I took me

a walk to commune with the Lord.

Bring the Lord into your deceptions?

You're coming from Shaw's plantation.

No! Master Epps.

Now, you speak?

Now that you want to add to her lies, you find your tongue!

I went to Master Shaw's plantation.

Ah! You admit it.

Yes, freely.

And you know why?

I got this from Mistress Shaw.

Mistress Epps won't even grant me no soap to clean with.

I stink so much, I make myself gag!

500 pounds of cotton.

Day I", day out!

More than any man here.

And for that, I will be clean.

That's all I ask.

This, here, what I went to Shaw's for.

Liar.

The Lord knows that's all!

You're a liar.

And you, blind with your own covetousness!

I don't lie, Master.

If you kill me, I'll stick to that.

I'll fetch you down.

I'll learn you to go to Shaw's.

Treach.

Run and fetch some line.

Edward!

Strip her. Strike her bare and lash her to the post.

(GASPS)

(SOBBING)

You done this to yourself, Pats.

(CONTINUES SOBBING)

MISTRESS EPPS: Do it.

Strike the life from her.

Beat her.

Give her the whip! Give it all to her!

Platt, you come here and you beat her now.

Platt!

Come here!

PATSEY: I'd rather it you, Platt!

You strike her.

Strike her.

(PATSEY CONTINUES SOBBING)

(PATSEY YELLS)

(PATSEY GROANING)

He pantomimes.

There's barely a welt on her.

That's what your niggers make of you...

a fool for the taking.

EPPS: Strike her, Platt. Strike her!

(GROANING)

You will strike her.

You will strike her until her flesh

is rent and meat and blood flow equal...

or I will kill every nigger in my sight.

You understand me?

Strike her! Strike her!

(PATSEY SCREAMS)

(PATSEY SOBBING)

(COUGHING)

EPPS: Until I say no more. I ain't said nothing!

Give me the whip!

Get up!

(PATSEY SCREAMING)

Thou devil!

Sooner or later...

somewhere in the course of eternal

justice, thou shalt answer for this sin!

(PANTING)

Sin? There is no sin.

Man does how he pleases with his property.

At the moment, Platt, I'm of great pleasure.

You be goddamn careful I don't want to

come and lighten my mood no further.

(GASPS)

(WHIMPERING)

(SHOUTS)

(SOBBING)

(GASPING IN PAIN)

(SOBBING)

Master Bass.

I want to ask you what part of the country you come from.

No part of this land.

I originate from Canada.

Now, guess where that is.

I know where Canada is.

I've been there myself.

Montreal...

and Kingston and Queenston and a great many places.

Well-traveled for a slave.

How came you here?

Master Bass...

if justice had been done, I never would have been here.

How's this?

Tell me all.

I'm afraid to tell you.

Every word you speak is a profound secret.

Your story...

it is amazing.

And in no good way.

(SIGHS)

Do you believe, sir, in justice, as you said?

I do.

That slavery is an evil that should befall none?

I believe so.

If you truly do...

then I ask, I beg...

that you write my friends in the north...

acquainting them of my situation...

and beseeching them to forward free papers.

It would be...

an unspeakable happiness...

to see my wife...

and my family again.

I traveled this country for the best part of 20 years...

and my freedom is everything.

The fact that I can walk out of here tomorrow brings me great pleasure.

My life doesn't mean much to anyone.

It seems yours might mean a lot to a whole lot of people.

But what you ask of me, sir, scares me.

And I must say, I am afraid.

Not just for you, but for me.

I will write your letter, sir.

And if it brings you your freedom,

it will be more than a pleasure.

It will have been my duty.

Now, would you kindly hand me those shingles?

SHERIFF: Platt!

Where's the boy called Platt?

Come here, boy.

Your name is Platt, is it?

Yes, sir.

You know that man?

Mr. Parker.

Say again?

Mr. Parker.

That man received a letter compiling many accusations.

You look me in the eye...

and on your life, you answer me truthfully.

Have you any other name than Platt?

Solomon Northup is my name.

EPPS: Sheriff, what's all this?

It's official business.

My nigger, my business.

Your business waits.

Tell me of your family.

I have a wife, two children.

What the hell?

SHERIFF: What are your children's names? Margaret and Alonzo.

What was your wife's name before her marriage?

Anne Hampton. I am who I say.

Where you going, Platt?

Who authorized you to interfere with my property?

My authority.

Platt, you come back here. Platt!

You come back here, boy.

Boy.

You unhand him. Platt is my nigger!

He is Mr. Solomon Northup.

You say.

You come here, unfamiliar to me, and make claims.

I got no doubts. The man is Solomon Northup.

The hell he is! He's my nigger, and I'll fight you for him!

As is your right.

As it will be my pleasure to bankrupt you in the courts.

Your decision. Unhand him.

I know you had some hand in this, Platt.

I'm gonna get to the bottom of it.

Pay him no mind.

I paid good money for this nigger.

Courthouse got papers to prove it!

And we got papers proving he's free!

I own you. You belong to me. You hear me, Platt?

Unhand him!

You'll have 200 stripes across your back by sundown!

Platt!

EPPS: Get my horse, Treach.

Get away from him, Pats.

I'm gonna be seeing you real soon.

Solomon, we need to make haste.

No.

Solomon.

I'll apologize...

for my appearance.

But I have had...

a difficult time...

these past several years.

Margaret.

Alonzo.

Who is this?

He's my husband.

Husband.

It is very good to meet you, sir.

We have much acquainting to do.

Yes, sir.

And this is your grandson.

Solomon Northup Staunton.

Solomon.

(SOBBING) Anne...

forgive me.

There is nothing to forgive.

WOMAN: (SINGING) Went down to the River Jordan.

Where John baptized three.

When I woke the devil in hell.

Said Johnny baptized me.

I said roll, Jordan, roll.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Well, some say John was a Baptist.

Some say John was a Jew.

But I say John was a preacher

'Cause my Bible says so too.

I said roll, Jordan, roll.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Hallelujah.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Oh, roll now.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Halleluiah.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Everybody say.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Oh, children.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll.

Halleluiah.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

Roll, Jordan, roll.

My soul will rise in heaven, Lord.

For the year when Jordan roll