Amistad (1997)
Starring: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, and Anthony Hopkins.
Plot: In 1839, the Spanish slave ship La Amistad falls victim to a slave mutiny lead by Cinque (Hounsou). When the ship is found by American soldiers, the slaves are put on trial, concerning whether or not they are property of the Spanish empire or not. If they were born on a plantation they would legally be Spanish property, then they will be placed back into slavery. If proven that they were born in Africa, they will be sent back to their home since kidnapping people there for slavery is illegal. With the help of a property law attorney Roger Sherman Baldwin and former president John Quincy Adams, they will try to prove to multiple pro-slavery courts that the group of Africans belong in Africa, not a slave plantation.
Good: In my opinion, the best part of the film is the performances, especially the actors portraying the slaves. They do absolutely amazing and haunting performances that show the horror and grief that comes with being a slave. A particular stand out performance is Djimon Hounsou, who's expressions really bring his great acting to a new level. Matthew McConaughey also does a great job as the up-and-coming property attorney. He has great chemistry with Hounsou and the other Africans, along with a really good presence in the courtroom. The great Anthony Hopkins is fantastic as John Quincy Adams, pulling off the eccentricities of the character as well as the gravitas. His speech at the end is amazing to watch, and keeps you invested the whole time. John Williams' music is great as per usual, with a more subtle feel to it. The addition of African drums throughout the score along with the more westernized music. The production design is also very well done, with the audience feeling like they're actually in the time period. The scenes where the Africans are forced into slavery, while they don't last very long, are also very well done. It shows how exposed these Africans felt as they were stripped from their homes and families. These scenes make the concentration camp scenes in Schindler's List look like a Hallmark movie in my opinion.
Bad: Morgan Freeman is one of the best actors in the world. However, I think his talent is wasted here. He has very little scenes, and while he does show how far the slave's race has gone from their African roots after generations of slavery in America, any African-American actor could have filled that role. Another issue I have with the film is that while the characters keep you invested, the story feels very repetitive at points. The protagonists convince the judge with the evidence, then the government shuts them down and forces them to start over once again. This happens two more times before the protagonists finally win. I know this is what happened in reality, but it could've been handled a bit better. One final issue I have is with the subtitles. When the Africans are speaking to each other, the movie goes back and forth over whether they should be subtitled or not. The film should have either been totally without subtitles as a stylistic choice, or with subtitles so that the audience knows what everyone is saying.
Trivia:
- 'Amistad' in Spanish means 'friendship'.
- Denzel Washington turned down the role of Cinque.
- Many American actors were angry about Spielberg's decision about having a British actor (Hopkins) play a former president of the U.S.
- Anthony Hopkins' seven page speech scene only took one take. This impressed Spielberg so much that he only referred to him as Sir Anthony throughout the rest of production.
Next time, I'll look at another one of Spielberg's WWII movies, but this time, on the front lines of battle, in Saving Private Ryan.
Stay Tuned
One last thing, I now have a tumblr account that you can follow me on. I'll try to make an ask box soon, so you can ask my your questions there. the link is here.
