Name: Retro Film Review: Amistad (1997)
Item: Amistad
Rating: 50
Author: @drax

(source:tmdb.org)

(SPECIAL NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)

Most Americans like to think of their nation as a perfect embodiment of all noble ideals of liberty and for them America is the only place where man can be truly free. However, in early 19th Century this wasn't the case and there were some areas where young American republic proved more tyrannical and despotic than old monarchies of Europe. One of those areas was slavery - while in the same time banned or phased out in Europe, it was not only tolerated but actively promoted by people that saw nothing contradictory in following noble ideals of democracy and treating other human beings like property at the same time. Slavery, which is today seen as the darkest chapter in American history, was never seriously challenged as an institution until American Civil War. Until its formal abolition, it was challenged only in individual cases that seem bizarre to today's viewers. One of such incident served as a basis for Amistad, 1997 historical drama directed by Steven Spielberg.

The plot begins in 1839, in a time when the trans-Atlantic slave trade was banned, but slavery still tolerated in Spanish colonies. "Amistad" is Spanish ship carrying cargo of illegally obtained slaves to Cuba. Slaves, led by Cinque (played by Djimon Hounsou), stage an uprising, massacre crew and spare only two Spaniards under condition that they carry them back to Africa. Spanish captain tricks slaves and sails northwards where the ship gets intercepted by US Navy. Slaves are arrested and charged with murder and piracy. Two abolitionists - former slave Joadson (played by Morgan Freeman) and white idealist Tappan (played by Stellan Skarsgard) - hire Baldwin (played by Matthew McConaughey), inexperienced property lawyer, to defend Cinque and his comrades. Baldwin's defence is simple - slaves were African natives illegally kidnapped and thus had right to use violence against their captors. US government, led by unpopular President Martin Van Buren (played by Nigel Hawthorne) is pressed both by slave-owning Southern politicians led by John C. Calhoun (played by Arliss Howard) and Spanish Queen Isabelle (played by Anna Paquin) to take different position – Cinque and his friends wer born in Spanish Cuba as slaves and can be treated like property. The case goes to US Supreme Court and abolitionists recruit services of former President John Quincy Adams (played by Anthony Hopkins).

Amistad was probably devised as another Schindler's List - powerful drama that re-examines certain dark chapters of history. Despite having interesting story and wide variety of talents at his disposal, Spielberg failed to repeat his 1993 triumph. Reasons for that could be found in the story itself - unlike Holocaust, which is still in living memory and in some way still relevant subject in world today, slavery is something less comprehensible for most of the viewers, at least in most of modern industrial nations. Spielberg needed some good screenwriting skills to overcome this problems, and David Franzoni with his script didn't fulfil those needs. The film suffers from inadequate structure - the beginning, which describes the mutiny and its aftermath, displays Spielberg at his best - plenty of action, little or no dialogue, some gruesome and many powerful images. Unfortunately, once the ship lands it all descends into predictable courtroom drama in which paternalistic white men take over the good fight for the rights of oppressed black people. Occassionally, Amistad stirs some powerful emotion with flashback scenes depicting the cruel reality of trans-Atlantic slave trade, but those moments are too few and far in between.

Another problem with Amistad is the weakness of characters. With exception of Cinque, played by charismatic Djimon Hounsou, most of them are caricatures, especially villains. Nigel Hawthorne's Van Buren is one of the most pathetic Presidents to appear on big screens, while the presence of "Oscar"-awarded Anna Paquin in the role of 11- year old Spanish sovereign can be explained only by Spielberg's desire to have as diverse cast as possible. Anthony Hopkins, on the other hand, is very effective in the role of John Quincy Adams, one of the least appreciated but the most noble Presidents in American history (arguably, the 19th Century equivalent of Jimmy Carter); he appears relatively late in the film and his memorable speech can't drastically improve general impression of the film. However, despite some flaws and obvious disappointment for all those who had based their expectation on Schindler's List, most viewers won't fail to recognise experienced film maker at work. Amistad is far from being one of the shinier entries in Spielberg's filmography but the difficult subject and the way it is handled might lead audience to think about the contradictions and hypocrisy that always accompany practical implementation of some noble ideals, both in our past and our present.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on December 18th 2003)