12 Years A Slave a ‘labour of love’

It is precise and economical and manages to investigate the atrocities the film’s protagonist Solomon Northup had to suffer through during his 12 years as a slave in the mid 1900s.

It’s a script that never preaches.

“I didn’t want to do any finger wagging,” Ridley states emphatically, “but I also had to educate myself and the viewer of the inhuman slave system that was so prevalent in the South during those times.”

Ridley admits that he had to do a lot of research, as slavery is not a subject that you can simply Google or read a quick convenient description of. You have to immerse yourself in the subject, do careful and thorough reading and then bring the message across without knocking the viewer out.

British film director Steve McQueen poses during the presentation of “12 Years a Slave” in Madrid on December 9, 2013

“I stayed as faithful to the material as possible. But all honours go to the director Steve McQueen and his incredibly talented crew, cast and helpers. I started writing the script in 2008 as a spec script. It went through several rewrites before I was actually ready to show it to someone. But I will never forget that first impact when I originally read Northup’s book. I then had to dissect it, break it up into scenes following a certain structure and then rewrite and rewrite the scenes until it was  finished.”

Asked whether he became emotional during the writing of the script, Ridley says that when you write a movie script there are so many ducks that have to be lined up, especially technically, that the writer cannot repeatedly allow emotion to distract him.

“I had to put everything that happened down in a script and give it life. But I also had to give it context, whether it was social, economical or political.”

Ridley has high praise for Sarah Paulson’s portrayal of Mistress Epps, the stone-cold wife of Michael Fassbender’s weakling plantation owner. Ridley explains that he had to investigate what her motives and shortcomings were for treating human beings the way she did. And of course the role her husband played in her frustrations and anger, which she took out on the slaves.

Still of Sarah Paulson and Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave (2013)

“I tried to bring the toxic environment that she found herself in across in my script and also attempted to give the viewer access to both her and her husband’s motivations, personalities and manners which were so typical of that time,” Ridley explains.

This film will be relevant for many years to come and may again be viewed in 10 or 20 years’ time with the same kind of respect it enjoys now.

“I want my kids, who may watch it in 20 years’ time on DVD or social media, to realise what happened. And also to know what the measure of an individual is,” says Ridley

Ridley wrote the scripts and concepts for U-Turn, Barbershop and Three Kings and is also a playwright.

Writing seems to be the one talent that gives him the most pleasure, judging from the honesty and passion with which he talks about his craft.

A still of Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave (2013)

Did McQueen look over his shoulder all the time he was (re-)writing the script?

“Not at all. His was a hands-off approach and he afforded me the freedom and liberty to write my own script. I also took some melodrama out of the script in the early stages and tried to stay as faithful to the original material as possible,” he says.

12 Years A Slave may walk off with several Oscars at the beginning of March, with Ridley’s Best Adapted Screenplay arguably the least unexpected.