Amistad DVD
Dreamworks SKG
Rated: R
Genre: Drama
Length: 155 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Year: (1997)
Britt Gillette's The Amistad DVD Review
Another Steven Spielberg cinematic triumph, Amistad garnered four Academy Award nominations - among them, Best Music Original Dramatic Score (John Williams) and Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Anthony Hopkins). Based on the true story of the 1839 slave revolt on the slave trade ship Amistad, the film provides a dramatic visual glimpse into the horrors of 19th Century slavery. Just as Spielberg's masterpiece Schindler's List created an onscreen record to account for the Nazi atrocities of the Holocaust, Amistad stands as a testament to the evils of the Atlantic slave trade with the United States of America. Be prepared to watch a film with graphic portrayals of human bondage and mistreatment…
When Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) is lured from the safety of his African village and trapped like a wild animal, slave traders place him in bondage and board him on a large ship set to sail for the Caribbean. Chained to the floor, side-by-side inside the hull of the galleon, hundreds and hundreds of kidnapped Africans are brutally packed together like sardines. They are rarely fed (and very little when food is given), and they must use the bathroom where they lie, be sick where they lie, and some even die while chained to the others. The conditions are a literal hell on earth.
These opening scenes, just like Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, are the most vivid and powerful - creating images that will stay with you forever. Chained together, one-after-another, the slaves are punished when one of them is thrown overboard, dragging the others to the bottom of the sea.
However, one slave aboard Amistad decides to fight back. When the opportunity presents itself late one night, Cinque sparks a revolt against the slave traders. He and his fellow countrymen take the ship by force and kill their captors. Now free, the men attempt to set sail for their native land, but in the darkness of night, they end up sailing to America instead.
The grounded ship gains national political interest when the survivors of the Amistad are treated as slaves. Even President Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne) takes an interest in the matter. When young and idealistic lawyer Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) and freedman Joadson (Morgan Freeman) take up the task of representing Cinque's interests in an American court, the case becomes larger than life. Cinque tells the tale of his capture, the island sorting facility for future American slaves, and the mistreatment of human beings in the pursuit of monetary profit. When the case goes before the Supreme Court, former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) enters the picture in an attempt to win a victory for freedom and individual rights…
One of the most dramatic and important films of the decade, Amistad will open your eyes to the mistakes of our past. It will make you angry at the past injustices of preceding generations. But more importantly, Amistad serves as a reminder to the current and to future generations that freedom is not to be taken for granted. It is the birthright of all men, and it is our obligation to fight for it whenever we can. This important message, and its historical lessons, make Amistad a definite must-see movie that no American can afford to miss…
Britt Gillette
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Posted on 7 February 2005