AMISTAD
Review by Luke Buckmaster
When Stephen Spielberg took a break from creating rampaging dinosaurs, hungry sharks or wacky aliens, he came up with Schindlers List. Now his second serious film is Amist-ake, which destroys part of his reputation as an unbridled genius of the directing industry.
Onboard the ship La Amistad (in 1839), 53 African slaves whom were held captive take over the ship and viciously slaughter all but two of the crew. Intending to go back to Africa, they are tricked by the white survivors and end up on the coast of Long Island. The Africans are soon captured and charged with murder.
The question is, whom do they belong to? Are they the property of the people who purchased them, various governments whom own the lands they have been on or do they have the rights to their own freedom? Abolitionists Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and businessman Lewis Tappan (Stellan Skarsgerd) hire young real estate lawyer Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) to defend their case. This seemingly insignificant trial becomes a symbol of human rights, and as Baldwin desperately tries to defend the Africans their situation becomes ever more complicated with communication problems and the threat of civil war if the slaves are released.
Led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), the Africans learn about different aspects of American society as President Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne) wishes to sacrifice them to please other world leaders including the 11 year old Queen Isabella of Spain (Anna Paquin). Former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) a son of one of the founding fathers, helps defend them after much persuasion when the case is taken to the Supreme Court. What kind of a land is this, Cinque questions, Where you almost mean what you say? Where laws almost work?
The real problem with Amistad is not that it fails to achieve brilliance or potency, its that it does so very sparsely. When we are treated to its occasional moments of gripping cinema they serve as a reminder of what should have been rather than what Spielberg delivers on a continuous basis.
Anthony Hopkins performance as the wise John Quincy Adams is simply stunning and the obvious highlight of the film; he looks and sounds so impressive that Amistads viewing quality sky rockets whenever he takes the spotlight. I would go as far to say that he deserves an Oscar for this stellar performance but unfortunately his screen time is limited. As for Morgan Freeman, this is the first time I have ever seen him looking like an out of work actor desperately seeking some lines to recite.
Djimon Hounsou is the only other main actor worthy of a mention, but is often very annoying to watch as the use of sub titles is very inconsistent. Half the time we understand what he is saying (that is, when it is convenient), and the other half he sounds like a wild ape rambling on about something to do with freedom. This is not an insult to the African language, but rather to Spielbergs awkward choice of communication to the audience. And John Williams (whose composer credits include all three Star Wars films, Schindlers List and Jurassic Park) music score is noticeably annoying and often far too overpowering.
As an educational video, Amistad would be excellent. But as a motion picture, it teases us with a magnificent story put together in a far too ordinary way. All through the films two and a half hours we are never quite sure whose story it is the characters of Cinque, John Quincy Adams and Roger Baldwin all have interesting stories to tell yet Spielberg doesnt give any of them enough time.
This may sound terrible, but it is my opinion that American people will probably appreciate Amistad more than most others. After all, everyone likes to be reminded that their country has made the right decision at one stage or another. If this was a tactic that Spielberg used to disguise a fairly weak film, it sure as hell didnt work on me.
2 stars out of 5 A film that doesnt give its fascinating true story the credit it deserves
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