Amistad (1997)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Steven Spielberg

Writer (WGA):

David Franzoni (written by)

Release Date:

10 December 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | Mystery

Tagline:

A true story.

Plot:

AMISTAD is about a 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship that is traveling towards the Northeast Coast of America. Much of the story involves a court-room drama about the free-man who led the revolt.

Plot Keywords:

Ship | Slave Ship | Mutiny | Africa | Supreme Court

Awards:

Nominated for 4 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 22 nominations

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Theodore Joadson
Nigel Hawthorne	...	Martin Van Buren
Anthony Hopkins	...	John Quincy Adams
Djimon Hounsou	...	Cinque
Matthew McConaughey	...	Baldwin
David Paymer	...	Secretary of State John Forsyth
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Holabird
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Tappan
Razaaq Adoti	...	Yamba
Abu Bakaar Fofanah	...	Fala
Anna Paquin	...	Queen Isabella II
Tomas Milian	...	Calderon
Chiwetel Ejiofor	...	Ens. Covey
Derrick N. Ashong	...	Buakei
Geno Silva	...	Ruiz

MPAA:

Rated R for some scenes of strong brutal violence and some related nudity.

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Mende | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Brazil:14 | Philippines:PG-13 (cut) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Malaysia:(Banned) | Mexico:B | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 (re-rating) | South Korea:15 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #35700)

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Producer Debbie Allen wanted Steven Spielberg to direct, but it wasn't until Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List (1993)) submitted a rewrite that he agreed to direct.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Martin van Buren is shown plucking a harp with colored strings. Color coded strings on harps is a modern invention and was not available in 1839.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Ruiz: [to Pedro Montes] That one wants us to sail them back. That one thinks he can sail all the way back without us.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chump Change (2000)

Soundtrack:

Amazing Grace

Whoever tells the best story wins

Amistad is a very well crafted, well acted, and well told story. It is also mostly true to the history of events surrounding the Amistad 'mutiny', and the defense of the Africans responsible for it by John Quincy Adams and a young lawyer named Baldwin. I put the word mutiny in quotes because it is absurd to think of people fighting against murder, enslavement and rape as any form of crime. The film is unabashed about showing us the brutality and outrageousness of the covertly institutionalized slave trade that haunted one of America's darkest, most retrograde periods, and pulls no punches about the cultural differences between its victims, its culprits, and those who felt that it was not their problem.

Amistad ranks as one of McConaughey's finest performances, perhaps his best. But nearly the entire cast is blown off the screen by the passionate, sensitive and profound performance of Djimon Hounsou. Hopkins is good as Adams, but what else is new? Though the film does not have a literary feel - it is pure cinema - it is a truly great story featuring bold characters and a deep and simple emotionality which draws its audience in. Alistad has a spirit that can only be described as truthfulness.

Despite his detractors, Spielburg proves again and again that morally decent films with positive messages can be entertaining and artfully crafted.

Highly recommended.