It's a shame this film is never talked about. Ultimately, Amistad's greatest strength is that it avoids offering any easy answers and in that sense, does to subconscious issues about race and slavery what Kubrick's 2001 did to space travel and progress, albeit with more humanity and more accessible drama. One by Anthony Hopkins as former president John Quincy Adams (an unusual turn for him, where he really soars), and the other by Djimon Hounsou (later cast as Juba in Gladiator) as Cinque being the true gem. The acting is magnificent, mainly two amazing performances.
Janusz Kaminski's (SPR, Schindler's List, AI, Minority Report.) photography is superb, a dark study in sepia browns. It is so much about context and moral ambiguity, and ultimately the tragic ridicule of the situation. Labelling it as such would be missing the point by a mile.
These events, based on facts, occur before the Civil War. or are the slaves not "legal" slaves after all? Cue abolitionists hiring young property lawyer Baldwin.
#Amadeus imdb trial#
The ship is intercepted by the American navy and a messy trial ensues to see who has rights regarding the cargo, Spain, America. His father died in Buchenwald and his mother died in Auschwitz, and Milos. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. The story itself focuses on a mutiny aboard a transatlantic slave ship, led by Cinque. Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. Instead of having stuff jump at you, you have to search for it or feel it without truly realizing it: touches of genius are very present, but differ from the original style (like the brutal insurrection scenes, cargo dumping scene, etc).
Why is it un-Spielberg? Ponderous pacing replaces storytelling fluidity and speed, his normally active camera is replaced by more painterly compositions. In a year dominated by Titanic this was publicly dismissed as too serious or arty. Dismissed on its release as a dry civics lesson or as "Schindler's List with slaves", which is a shame, because there is so much intricate stuff going on here that fans of Spielberg and his normally in-your-face approach might not grasp the moral ambiguity and more subtle touches that roam beneath the surface.
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