AMISTAD (PG-13).
Director: Steven Spielberg
Stars:Morgan Freeman,
Nigel Hawthorne, Anthony Hopkins,
Djimon Hounsou, Matthew
McConaughey, David Paymer, Pete
Postlethwaite, Stellan Skasgard, Anna
Paquin, Tomas Milian, Paul
Guilfoyle, Allan Rich, Peter Firth,
Xander Berkeley, Jeremy Northam,
Arliss Howard, Austin Pendleton,
Daniel Von Bargen
Running Time:144 minutes.
Despite his undeniably entertaining films dominating
the list of all-time box office champions,
producer/director Steven Spielberg still wants to be
taken seriously as a maker of important films. The
Colour Purple, Empire Of The Sun and the
Oscar-winning Schindler's List demonstrated that he
was a fine director capable of handling worthy
subjects and emotionally demanding material in
intelligent and sympathetic fashion.
Amistad is another sweeping and passionate tale that
again sees Spielberg don his serious film maker cap.
However, Amistad lacks the emotional resonance and
immediacy of Spielberg's other serious films, and
often seems like a history lesson, a dry recitation of
facts without any real significant insights or sense of
moral outrage.
Set in 1839, Amistad tells of a group of African
natives, on their way to Cuba to be sold into slavery,
who broke free from their chains and murdered their
captors. Unfortunately, they were eventually captured
in American waters and put on trial for piracy and
murder. Both Spain and Cuba lay claim to possession
of the unfortunate Africans. Roger Baldwin
(Matthew McConaughey) is an eager young lawyer
specialising in real estate matters, who takes on the
task of proving ownership of the slaves so that their
future can be determined. Although Baldwin is
passionate about the case, he is ill-prepared for the far
reaching consequences of the trial.
The momentous legal battle ultimately tested the very
ideals upon which the American Constitution and
democracy was founded, which inevitably led to the
Civil War, described as "the final battle in the
American Revolution." At the crux of the trial was a
heated debate over basic human rights and the issue
of slavery versus abolition.
The contentious court case also drew in two
Presidents, who took diametrically opposed positions
in the debate. It was an election year, and incumbent
President Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne)
overturned lower court decisions in an attempt to
appease the powerful, pro-slavery southern states.
Former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony
Hopkins) believed in more democratic ideals, and
came out of semi-retirement to try the case before the
supreme court. Despite a shrewd mind, Adams was at
best a mediocre President, whose term in office was
largely overshadowed by the achievements of his
father. However, his impassioned address to the
supreme court was probably his finest hour.
Although there is plenty of courtroom drama here,
Amistad is far removed from the complex legal
manoeuvrings and surprises that audiences have come
to expect from too many Grisham-like thrillers.
Spielberg brings a powerful sense of importance to
the film, and he sets the events into their proper
historical perspective. This is a difficult subject, but
Spielberg brings the horrible realities of the slave
trade to life in compelling but occasionally brutal
fashion. The production design and superb
cinematography from Oscar winner Janusz
Kaminski recreate the squalid conditions in which the
slaves were kept for much of the time and capture the
gritty quality of the nineteenth century New England
settings.
Spielberg has assembled a wonderful cast whose
solid performances bring the characters, both real and
fictional, richly to life. In his first feature role,
Djimon Hounsou brings a wonderful sense of
dignity, quiet strength and also a touching
vulnerability to his role as Cinque, the former tribal
chieftain who becomes the unofficial leader and
spokesperson for the slaves. Troubled by the
cumbersome American legal system, Cinque's
frustration gives way to anger as he tries to
understand its intimidating machinations and its
strange notions of truth, justice, honesty and the right
to appeal any decision.
In an interesting piece of casting Spielberg has the
two Presidents played by English actors. Hopkins is
sensational and delivers a quite powerful performance
as Adams, while Hawthorne makes less of an
impression as the shrewd and manipulative Van
Buren. Morgan Freeman's character is a fictitious
composite of a number of former slaves who played
an active role in the abolitionist movement of the
time, but he still brings his usual dignity and quiet
strength to the role. McConaughey (who also played
a lawyer in A Time To Kill) brings a sense of passion
to his role as the earnest lawyer.
Amistad is a powerful piece of film making that
comes highly recommended!