86th Academy Awards · 2014
12 Years a Slave
Directed by Steve McQueen
“The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup.”
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The story
In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Facing cruelty as well as unexpected kindnesses Solomon struggles not only to stay alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his unforgettable odyssey, Solomon’s chance meeting with a Canadian abolitionist will forever alter his life.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer95%Fresh#26 of 98 winnersIMDb8.1795K votes#25 of 98 winners
Metacritic96/ 100#8 of 93 winners
TMDB7.9/ 10
Famous lines
I don't want to survive, I want to live.
I will not fall into despair. I will keep myself hardy, till freedom is opportune!
I apologize for my appearance. But I have had a difficult time these past several years.
I am Solomon Northup. I am a free man; a resident of Saratoga, New York.
Laws change. Social systems crumble. Universal truths are constant. It is a fact, it is a plain fact that what is true and right is true and right for all. White and black alike.
Solomon Northup: Thou devil! Sooner or later, somewhere in the course of eternal justice thou shalt answer for this sin!
Edwin Epps: No sin! There is no sin! A man does how he pleases with his property.
Survival is not about certain death, it is about keeping your head down.
If you want to survive, do and say as little as possible. Tell no one who you really are and tell no one that you can read and write…
Five hundred pounds 'a cotton day in, day out. More than any man here. And 'fo that I will be clean; that all I ax.
Solomon Northup: Master Ford, you must know; I am not a slave.
Ford: I cannot hear that.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- The Best Picture win made Steve McQueen the first Black producer ever to receive the award and the first Black director of a Best Picture winner.Wikipedia · Lead
- Steve McQueen's partner, Bianca Stigter, found Solomon Northup's 1853 memoir; McQueen said it read like Anne Frank's diary, but written 97 years earlier, and he was upset he had never known it.Wikipedia · Development
- Filming used four historic antebellum plantations, including Magnolia in Schriever, Louisiana, just a few miles from a site where Northup was held. Chiwetel Ejiofor said the feeling of "dancing with ghosts" was palpable.Wikipedia · Filming
- After both won Oscars, McQueen and screenwriter John Ridley were reported to be feuding over screenplay credit, and neither thanked the other in his acceptance speech. Ridley later denied the feud and cited Writers Guild rules.Wikipedia · Development
- Costume designer Patricia Norris created nearly 1,000 costumes in eight weeks and, according to McQueen, took earth samples from the plantations to match the clothes.Wikipedia · Design
- Steve McQueen deliberately modeled the film's look on Francisco Goya, arguing that Goya's exquisite paintings of violence and torture force viewers to really look.Wikipedia · Filming
- Made on a $22 million production budget, 12 Years a Slave earned about $187.7 million worldwide, and it was also the 10th most illegally downloaded movie of 2014, according to Variety.Wikipedia · Box office
- The film was originally slated for late December, but "some exuberant test screenings" led the studio to move its release up to October 2013.Wikipedia · Initial screenings
- The data blog Information is Beautiful judged the film 88.1% accurate to real events, concluding that "the most gut-wrenching scenes really happened."Wikipedia · Historical accuracy
- In 2023 it was added to the National Film Registry, only the ninth film ever chosen in its first year of eligibility and the 49th Best Picture winner inducted.Wikipedia · Lead