The second court case, making headlines in the media for eleven months, from to , was the trial of O. In this case a predominantly black jury found a black man not guilty of killing his white wife. Despite the existence of incriminating evidence, it was found during the trial to have been mishandled by the police and at least one officer was reportedly a known racist.
As the trial drew to a close, two-thirds of white Americans polled thought O. Simpson was guilty as charged, and two-thirds of blacks thought he was being framed.
Some choices involve a mix of fact and fiction, others are omissions, while still others are simply factual errors. The third abolitionist was black Congregationalist minister, James Pennington, who worked with Tappan on fundraising for the return of the Africans to Sierra Leone, and for the formation of missions there.
Joadson speaks English, not Mende, he dresses like an American gentleman, and has little in common with the Africans. In this way, Spielberg may have been sending a message to twentieth century Americans promoting healthier internal race relations. In the film, Roger S.
Baldwin is presented as a young property lawyer who has no particular interest in the Africans beyond representing them in a winnable legal case. And though he also chooses to include the abolitionist Quakers, they appear in the film to be obscure, religious folk and their abolitionist role remains unexplained. Perhaps Spielberg wanted to show that the Africans won the court case on their own legal merits and not as part of some abolitionist cause.
Another real historical figure in the Amistad story is Antonio, a black slave cabin boy who chose to side with the slave masters on board La Amistad. But Spielberg chose to leave him out of the film entirely.
By limiting the subject of slavery, he strips out the bitter historical and economic factors that, to some extent, continue to divide Americans, even into the present.
Rather than focus on the Africans as slaves, he wants the audience focus on their humanity. In fact, he removes the issue of slavery early in the film by having Baldwin demonstrate that these men are African, and since the international trade of slaves is illegal in both Spain and the U. In reality, there were also four other captive African slave children on board La Amistad. Like in the Rodney King and O. Simpson trials, this was not a story of justice for sweet little children, but for the rights of black men.
However, there are also a number of problems in the film that are harder to explain. However, he is portrayed as having very little capacity in English. In fact, several of the Africans had developed considerable competence in English by the end of the trial and they had learned sufficient writing skills to compose numerous letters to John Quincy Adams as well as to Baldwin. This omission in the film seems not only paternalistic but was a lost opportunity to hear directly from the Africans.
In , the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Anna Paquin Knows Best.
Photos Top cast Edit. Djimon Hounsou Cinque as Cinque. Pete Postlethwaite Holabird as Holabird. Razaaq Adoti Yamba as Yamba. Abu Bakaar Fofanah Fala as Fala. Tomas Milian Calderon as Calderon. Derrick N. Ashong Buakei as Buakei. Geno Silva Ruiz as Ruiz. John Ortiz Montes as Montes. Darren E. Steven Spielberg. More like this. Watch options. Storyline Edit. Amistad is the name of a slave ship travelling from Cuba to the U.
It is carrying a cargo of Africans who have been sold into slavery in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is crossing from Cuba to the U. They continue to sail, hoping to find their way back to Africa. Instead, they are misdirected and when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They don't speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all.
A true story. Rated R for some scenes of strong brutal violence and some related nudity. Did you know Edit. Trivia Sir Anthony Hopkins astounded the crew by delivering the entire seven page courtroom speech in a single take. Debbie Allen Original Song. John Williams Original Music. Janusz Kaminski Cinematographer. Michael Kahn Film Editor. Victoria Thomas Casting. View All Critic Reviews Jul 07, Although technically competent and with wonderful performances by Hopkins and Hounsou who should have been nominated for an Oscar too , this is a bloated and misstructured film that has an alarming tendency to give in to melodrama and is not as strong as it could be.
Carlos M Super Reviewer. Feb 07, I do appreciate the unflinching way the film looks at the slave trade and Djimon Hounsou's performance is startlingly intense, but this could have been so much more. Alec B Super Reviewer. Sep 26, Steven Spielberg crafts a good historical drama. However it's not without its flaws. The problem with Amistad is that it takes a terrific aspect of history, and over bloats it into a romanticized version of the facts.
The film is good, but could have been much better. The elements of the film at times just don't work, and Spielberg, who usually makes great films, makes the film's subject matter almost silly at times instead of compelling. I liked the film, but I liked the film, but I felt that since this is a historical film, the usual Spielberg flair could have been slightly toned down.
His performance makes this film worth seeing. The film does have that going for it, and it is entertaining, but I felt it fell short of its potential, especially with its subject matter, which is history.
Steven Spielberg direction is good, but at times unfocused and the flaws I pointed out earlier in this review become apparent to the viewer. My biggest problem with this film is that it is a historical film mixed with a feel good flavor, thus the film falls short of what it could be.
I expected so much more with this film, but in the end, it touches the tip of the iceberg of this real historical account, and becomes more of a court room drama, which many viewers will probably find not that great. I liked the film, but the film's potential is wasted and in turn Amistad is simply a good little film without being anything great or excellent.
Alex r Super Reviewer. Jun 12, Amistad is a wonderful and brilliant film by Steven Spielberg, but it still has some major historical inaccuracies. I am not usually one to put down a film because of the inaccuracies, but since its a genius like Spielberg I expect nothing but the best, and there are just some scenes in the film that I could tell they had put in just for Hollywood.
The script however is brilliant and is a mix of a courtroom drama and a slave film. Even with some inaccuracies, I found this to be a very powerful and smart film that really shows the horrors and truths behind slave trading. Spielberg is the perfect man for a film like this, his greatest film Shindlers List proved that he is able to handle great material like this. He really makes the film feel epic and has really given me a new view on slavery. The cast is also phenomenal and really was the films high point.
Mathew McConaughey really impressed me because I didn't expect to like him in a role like this but he pulls it off. Morgan Freeman is great as usual and really has a great and signifigant role. Anthony Hopkins was brilliant and our sixth president, and I mean I barely could tell it was him after a while, and and I think his final speech at the end is one of his finest moments as an actor.
Dijmon Hounsou is the films core, I mean I thought his performance really gave it more sympathy and I love him as an actor. Spielberg has done another great film that is along with Empire of the Sun one of his best forgotten films.
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