Based on a true story, Amistad chronicles the remarkable journey
of a group of enslaved Africans who overtake their captor's ship
an d attempt to return to their beloved homeland. When their ship
La Amistad is seized, the captives are brought to the United
States w here an enthralling legal battle ensues that confronts
the very foundation of the American justice system.
From .co.uk
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Steven Spielberg's most simplistic, sanitised history lesson,
Amistad, explores the symbolic 1840s trials of 53 West Africans
following their bloody rebellion aboard a slave ship. For most of
Schindler's List (and, later, Saving Private Ryan) Spielberg
restrains himself from the sweeping narrative and technical
flourishes that make him one of our most entertaining and
manipulative directors. Here, he doesn't even bother trying,
succumbing to his driving need to entertain with beautiful images
and contrived emotion. He cheapens his grandiose motives and
simplifies slavery, treating it as cut- and-dry genre piece.
Characters are easy Hollywood stereotypes--"villains" like the
Spanish sailors or zealous abolitionists are drawn
one-dimensionally and sneered upon. And Spielberg can't suppress
his gifted eye, undercutting normally ugly sequences, such as the
terrifying slave passage, which is as a gorgeous, well-lit
composition. At its core, Amistad is a traditional courtroom
drama, centred by a tired, clichéd narrative: a struggling,
idealistic young lawyer (Matthew McConaughey) fighting the
crooked political system and saving helpless victims. Worse yet,
Spielberg actually takes the underlying premise of his childhood
fantasy, E.T. and repackages it for slavery. Cinque (Djimon
Hounsou), the leader of the West African rebellion, is presented
much like the adorable alien: lost, lacking a common language,
and trying to find his way home. McConaughey is a grown-up Elliot
who tries communicating complicated ideas such as geography by
drawing pictures in the sand or language by having Cinque mimic
his facial expressions. Such stuff was effective for a sci-fi
fantasy about the communication barriers between a boy and a lost
alien; here, it seems like a naive view of real, complex history.
--Dave McCoy, .com
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From the Back Cover
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Earning accl for its filmmaking and power Amistad was honoured
with four Academy Award nominations including best support actor,
best music, best costume design and best cinematography. Based on
a true story, the movie chronicles teh incredible journey of a
group of enslved Africans who overtake their captor's ship and
attempt to return to their beloved homeland. When the ship, La
Amistad, is seized, these captives are brought to the United
States where they are charged with murder and await their e in
prison. An enthralling battle ensues that captures the attention
of teh entire nation, confronting the very foundation of teh
American justoce system. But for the men and women on trial , it
is simply a fight for the basic right of all mankind...freedom.
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