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Steve McQueen: my hidden shame

 

by Decca Aitkenhead
His new film 12 Years A Slave is an unflinching look at human brutality. But director Steve McQueen’s childhood contains a painful secret he has never confronted
Steve McQueen: ‘To me, it’s all about the work. It’s the only thing one can do.’ Photograph: Giles Price for the Guardian. Click on image for full portrait
Steve McQueen has known about slavery for as long as he can remember. To the son of West Indian parents, slavery’s history is the story of his very existence: “So there is a weight on your chest, on your back, from a very early age.” Yet he cannot recall having ever felt angry about it.
“Angry?” He looks puzzled. “No. You feel hurt that someone did such things, but angry? No.” To McQueen, the notion sounds as bizarre as finding slavery funny. “Painful, sure. Hurt, absolutely. I don’t know if that can be seen as anger. Not to say that I’m not angry with injustice, of course – and slavery is a huge injustice. But thinking about it that way? No.” From his baffled expression, you might think him literally unaware that anger is quite a common response.
 
[further reading click here]
12 Years a Slave
Production year: 2013
Countries: Rest of the world, USA
Runtime: 133 mins
Director: Steve McQueen
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano
[from The Guardian, Saturday 4 January 2014]

 

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