12 Years a Slave · written by John Ridley and Steve McQueen · 2013

Solomon gives Celeste the food and reveals his true name and plan to write to friends in New York; Celeste doubts the letter can be delivered and urges him to flee with her.

Scene 172 of 211 · ≈ 2 min on screen · Act two

Celeste
Solomon

Act oneAct twoAct three

Begins 1:49 into a 2:22 film

The story so farBefore scene 172

After being kidnapped from New York and sold into slavery, Solomon Northup uses his skills and carefully placed trust to survive and seek a way back to his family.

Scenes 1–29
Solomon lives freely in Saratoga as a husband, father, worker, and musician.
Scenes 30–65
Kidnapped and held under the imposed name Platt, Solomon must preserve his life and identity.
Scenes 66–123
He enters plantation life under Ford, passes through Tibeats’s violence and the near-lynching, and is transferred to Epps.
Scene 124
Solomon is transferred to Epps’s plantation and placed among Patsey and the enslaved workers, opening the harsher final plantation phase.
Just before
Scene 169
Back at the sugar house, Solomon uses the whip more vigorously on the workers, directing his anger at them.
Scene 170
Solomon meets the fugitive Celeste in the swamp, shares his food, and hears her plan to live freely beyond the reach of patrollers and dogs.
Scene 171
Solomon sneaks into the plantation storehouse and steals a small amount of food for Celeste.
Scene 172
This scene

172EXT. TURNER PLANTATION - NIGHT

Solomon plays his violin, but plays it with an anxious nature as he waits.

Then, as before, a figure appears in the distance. It is Celeste coming out of the night. She makes her way directly to Solomon. With no greeting, she asks:

CELESTE

I am hungry.

Solomon gives Celeste the handkerchief he's filled. She opens it, and begins to devour the food. As she eats, she asks:

CELESTE (CONT'D)

I was rude, and didn't even ask yo

name.

SOLOMON

Platt.

(beat)

Solomon. Solomon is my true name.

CELESTE

Was you free?

SOLOMON

I was. I am.

Solomon exposes his wrist, displays his tattoo as he announces:

SOLOMON (CONT'D)

I remain free in my heart.

Giving a laugh as though it's the silliest thing she's heard.

CELESTE

Free heart means nothin if'n yo

body gunna die a slave.

SOLOMON

I will not.

CELESTE

Celeste knows you ain't gunna run.

Celeste knows it ain't your

nature.

SOLOMON

I have other plans.

Celeste gives a look. She is curious to hear more. Solomon, both conspiratorially and accentuating what he considers to be his own cleverness:

SOLOMON (CONT'D)

I have secreted a piece of paper.

Just a slip of foolscrap. I have

kept it safe and dry for years on.

Nearly relinquished my life

protecting it. I am experimenting