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Actors: Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConnaughey, Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, David Paymer, Pete Postlethwaite, Stellan Skarsgard, Anna Paqu
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Amistad |
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Stephen Spielberg directed this 1997 film about a largely true story: an 1839 slave revolt on the ship "Amistad" in the Caribbean and the subsequent trials of the leaders of the revolt on U.S. soil. Hounsou is magnificent as Cinque, the instigator of the slave revolt; Hopkins is just as good or better as former President John Quincy Adams, who takes over the defense at the higher court levels from attorney Roger Baldwin (McConnaughey) and citizen intermediary Theodore Joadson (Freeman). Larger issues -- the British opposition to slavery, Queen Isabel of Spain's demand that the ship and its cargo (the slaves) be returned to her -- are touched on, and the film features some graphic violence and nudity in its attempt to depict the brutalities of the slave trade. Somewhat slow and stately (152 minutes), but an impressive piece of work. Peter Firth and Jeremy Northam may be glimpsed among the cast, as well as former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun sitting in as historic U.S. Supreme Court Justice Story.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Amistad |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of movie:
- 19th century
Polit/Social/Race/Gender activism
Yes
Plotlet:
- rrrrrracism!!!!!
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- slave
Age:
- 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard curly
Body type
- (man) muscular
Unclothed?
- Chest and Buttocks
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- Black
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- bulging muscles
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- white/grey
Body type
- (man) average build
How much in movie?
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
Africa
Yes
Kind of Africa:
- Black Africa
The Americas (not US):
Yes
The Americas:
- The Caribbean
Water?
Yes
Water:
- warship
- swimming on
- drowning
- feeding sharks
Misc setting
- prison
- fort/military installation
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- very explicit references to deaths and torture
Movie makes you feel...
- thoughtful
Is this movie based on a
- book
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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