Amistad (1997 film)

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Amistad
Amistad DVD Cover
Directed by	Steven Spielberg
Produced by	Debbie Allen Steven Spielberg Colin Wilson
Written by	David Franzoni
Starring	Matthew McConaughey Morgan Freeman Anthony Hopkins Stellan Skarsgard Djimon Hounsou Justice Harry Blackmun
Music by	John Williams
Cinematography	Janusz Kaminski
Editing by	Michael Kahn
Distributed by	DreamWorks Distribution
Release date(s)	December 10, 1997
Running time	152 minutes
Language	English Mende Spanish
Budget	$40 million USD
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

This article is about the film dramatization. For other meanings see Amistad.

Amistad (Spanish for "friendship") is a 1997 Steven Spielberg film based on a slave mutiny that took place aboard a ship of the same name in 1839, and the legal activity that followed.

1 Plot
2 Awards
3 Cast
4 Taglines
5 Trivia
6 Quotes
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

This movie begins with Joseph Cinqué (whose true name was Sengbe Pieh), an African on the schooner La Amistad, leading a revolt that frees the other Africans and kills most of the crew. They force the ship's captain to steer back to Africa, but the captain tricks them and heads to the United States where the Africans are captured and jailed.

Word gets out immediately to U.S. President Martin Van Buren, Queen Isabella II of Spain, and a group of abolitionists. The group of Africans are charged with mutiny and murder. There are also property claims by the Queen Isabella II of Spain, the captain of the ship, the people who captured the Africans, and others. A young lawyer, Baldwin, is brought on the case by the abolitionists.

Baldwin finds a translator (Chiwetel Ejiofor in his first film role) and talks to Cinqué, who has become the leader of the group of Africans. In flashbacks, Cinqué tells about his life. He was captured in Africa and brought to the Caribbean Islands by an infamous Middle Passage slave vessel named the Tecora. Cinqué tells of the various horrors of the Middle Passage, such as when fifty people were drowned to save rations. Cinqué was finally taken to the Caribbean Islands, where he was illegally sold to the owners of La Amistad.

In the district court, Baldwin brings as evidence a book he found on the ship. It conclusively proves that the Africans did indeed come from Africa. The defendants' birthplace was a matter of critical importance because U.S. law at the time outlawed anyone who wasn't the child of a slave from being enslaved (based on the provision in the United States Constitution that permitted Congress to outlaw the African slave trade starting in the year 1809). This meant that those held aboard La Amistad were being traded illegally, and were officially abducted citizens of West Africa. As such, they were legally permitted to use deadly force to secure their release. Thus whether or not the defendants were born in Africa was critical to determining whether their conduct was indeed justifiable homicide or murder.

Upon seeing the log book from the ship, the presiding judge appears prepared to rule for Baldwin. But President Van Buren, under pressure from the South, replaces the judge with a younger judge whom Van Buren can influence. It is thought that this will result in a ruling against the defendants. However, the new judge surprises the Administration by ruling in favor of the defendants. The judge concludes that they were born in Africa, and thus were permitted to use deadly force to resist those that would enslave them. He orders their return to Africa at Government expense, and further orders the arrest of the would-be slavetraders.

The prosecution then appeals the case to the Supreme Court, where seven of the nine justices are slave owners. Baldwin finally convinces former president John Quincy Adams to help him on the case. After some communication with Cinqué, Baldwin and Adams are ready to present the case (Baldwin making the case to the Supreme Court isn't shown). John Quincy Adams then gives a speech on slavery and the case in general. The Supreme Court then (March 9, 1841) rules in favor of the Amistad Africans, in an opinion by Justice Joseph Story. Story was played in the movie by an actual retired Supreme Court justice, Harry Blackmun.

The end of the movie notes that Cinqué returned to Africa, the slave fortress he went through was destroyed by the Royal Navy, and the American Civil War was fought over many issues, slavery among them.

[edit] Awards

Academy of Motion Pictures, AMPAS (1998) Nominations:
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Anthony Hopkins
- Best Cinematography, Janusz Kaminski
- Best Costume Design, Ruth Carter
- Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, John Williams

[edit] Cast

Djimon Hounsou - Sengbe 'Cinqué' Pieh
Matthew McConaughey - Roger S. Baldwin
Morgan Freeman - Theodore Joadson
Stellan Skarsgård - Lewis Tappan
Anthony Hopkins - John Quincy Adams
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Kai Nyagua a.k.a. James Covey
Nigel Hawthorne - President Martin Van Buren
Pete Postlethwaite - Mr. Holabird
David Paymer - John Forsyth
Geno Silva - José Ruiz
John Ortiz - Pedro Montez
Razaaq Adoti - Yamba
Anna Paquin - Queen Isabella II
Peter Firth - Capt. Fitzgerald
Allan Rich - Judge Juttson
Jeremy Northam - Judge Coglin

[edit] Taglines

Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are some moments when it must be taken.

[edit] Trivia

The Slave Fortress destroyed at the end of the movie is actually El Morro, an old colonial fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Djimon Hounsou learned a certain amount of Mende, the language of Sierra Leone, for his role as Cinque. He speaks only six words of English in the entire film.

Spoilers end here.

The writer Barbara Chase-Riboud tried unsuccessfully to sue the producers, in order to prevent the release of this film. She claimed that the screenplay copied portions of her novel Echo of Lions ^[1].
A song "No Shelter" by Rage Against the Machine references the film:

Spielberg the nightmare works so push it far

Amistad was a whip, the truth was feathered and tarred

Memory erased, burned and scarred

Trade in ya history for a VCR

This was the second film for which Anthony Hopkins received an Academy Award nomination for playing a United States President. He was also nominated for playing Richard Nixon in Nixon (1995).
This is the first film directed by Spielberg that was released by DreamWorks, of which Spielberg was a co-founder.
The majority of this film was filmed in Newport, Rhode Island. The scenes of the United States Capitol building were that of the Rhode Island state house, and some scenes were filmed at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut.
The film shows Van Buren making a whistlestop campaign for re-election. This is an anachronism; the nation's railway network was not sufficiently advanced in 1840 to allow such a tactic. It was also considered undignified for candidates to actively seek the presidency. Van Buren and his opponent, William Henry Harrison, allowed subordinates to do the work.

[edit] Quotes

Cinque (through his interpreter): I am resolved it is better to die than be a white man's slave.

Cinqué: Give us...us free.

John Quincy Adams: Do you understand what the Supreme Court is?
Joseph Cinqué (through his interpreter): The place where they finally kill us.

[His advice on trying cases]

John Quincy Adams: Whoever tells the best story wins.

John Quincy Adams: He is a black man, you can see that, but if he were white, we wouldn't be here today.
Secretary of State Forsyth: The only thing John Quincy Adams will be remembered for is his middle name.

[After the Supreme Court trial]