Review: Amistad (1997)
Michael Dequina
Amistad (R) ** (out of ****)
The true story of the 1839 revolt on the Spanish slave ship La Amistad
would appear to make strong material for a film, and the brilliant opening
scene of Steven Spielberg's Amistad proves that point. Depicting in
graphic, unflinching detail how the imprisoned Africans, led by one Cinque
(Djimon Hounsou), fought against their captors and took command the ship,
the scene gets the film off to a bold, arresting start, delivering the
promise of a highly charged and powerful two-and-a-half-hours.
Alas, the promise remains just that, a promise, and the ultimately
disappointing Amistad loses its momentum once the action shifts from the
sea to New England, where the 44 Amistad Africans end up. Held under lock
and key once more, the Africans, charged with murder and piracy, become the
objects in a heated property trial, and the film settles into the familiar
rhythm of a courtroom drama. The prepubescent Queen Isabella (Anna Paquin)
of Spain argues that the Africans are rightfully hers, claiming that the
passengers were Cuban-born slaves; the British Navy lay a counter claim
since, as they maintain, the passengers were not slaves but free people
illegally captured from West Africa. Looking out for the Africans'
interests are abolitionists Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and Lewis
Tappan (Stellan Skarsgard), as well as Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey),
a young attorney with a struggling practice.
If McConaughey's role sounds familiar, it should--he is playing no more
than a variation on his starmaking role in A Time to Kill, which just adds
to the routine quality of the courtroom scenes, which are the meat and
potatoes of the film. As well-acted as these scenes are, especially by
Pete Postlethwaite as the prosecutor, none of them really engaged me. The
proceedings are strangely devoid of any tension or suspense, except for one
moment where the overwhelming pressure Cinque feels is reflected by a
pulsating drumbeat. But that is squandered, for the scene climaxes with
Cinque making a dramatic outburst that can best be described as a perfect
example of the cloying sentimentality that often mars Spielberg films.
Spielberg managed to control his inclination toward emotional bombast in
Schindler's List, and the film was much more effective for it; a similar
understatement would have worked better for Amistad, whose most powerful
moments are the quieter ones, such as a modest yet moving scene where
Cinque and his friend Yamba (Razaaq Adoti) attempt to interpret the Bible.
Eventually the Amistad Africans' case makes it to the Supreme Court, with
none other than former President John Quincy Adams (Sir Anthony Hopkins)
arguing on their behalf. The usually great Hopkins delivers one of his
weakest performances; he lays on the cantankerous old codger schtick a bit
too thick, and he does something peculiar with his voice--not his American
accent (which I, for one, did not mind at all in Nixon), but he makes it
kind of high pitched and lispy, at times almost squeaky and chirpy.
Needless to say, this is highly distracting and, in the end, annoying,
especially since his character handles the climactic oratory.
But by this late juncture in the film, the problem with Hopkins's
elocution is the least of the film's troubles. I felt as if the real
story--that of the Africans--had been lost. Baldwin's case hinges on the
fact that the Amistad Africans are people, not property, yet, with the
exception of Cinque and maybe (to a much lesser extent) Yamba, screenwriter
David Franzoni never develops them as people. Granted, it would have been
impossible to delve into the identities of all 44. But if Franzoni had
applied to the Africans some of the effort he uses to make the Americans a
varied bunch, the film would have been given a deeper human dimension.
But even with the underdeveloped African perspective, the scenes that
squarely focus on them are more compelling than any of the legal action
with the Yanks. The closest Amistad comes to recapturing the opening
scene's power is an extended flashback where Cinque recounts the events
leading up to the revolt. This sequence, which opens with the violent
capture in Sierra Leone, progresses through the harrowing sail to and from
Cuba, and then concludes with a brief recap of the revolt, gets under the
skin and stays there, which is a lot more than can be said for all of the
courtroom scenes, which barely have a single memorable moment between them.
The same can be said about the cast of characters, despite the very worthy
efforts of the actors, which is by far Amistad's strongest asset. The
always-reliable Freeman's presence is always welcome, but his character is
a minor background player at best. McConaughey predictably plays his
familiar role with ease, but the character of Roger Baldwin never exhibits
much personality. Nigel Hawthorne's President Martin Van Buren _does_ have
personality, but his screen time, much like Freeman's, is limited. The
only character, American or African, that comes to full-blooded, vivid life
is Cinque, played with mesmerizing ferocity by the charismatic Hounsou, a
remarkable find who has come a very long way indeed from his heretofore
most visible work, lipsynching in Janet Jackson's 1990 "Love Will Never Do
(Without You)" video.
As I have stated, the true story of the Amistad Africans would make a
great film. But not only do I not think Amistad is that film, I do not
think it really is a film about them. A true Amistad movie should be an
inspiring, highly emotional and moving tale about the courage and will of
the Africans themselves--not the mildly affecting, American-centered
courtroom drama that Spielberg has made. (opens December 10)
__________________________________________________________
Michael Dequina
mrb...@ucla.edu | michael...@geocities.com | mj...@the18thhole.com
mrb...@michaeljordanfan.com | mj...@michaeljordanfan.com
mrbr...@juno.com | mrb...@iname.com | ms...@digicron.com
Visit Mr. Brown's Movie Site at http://members.tripod.com/~MrBrown/
Personal Page: http://members.tripod.com/~MrBrown/home.html
Michael Jordan Beyond the Court:
http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/2302/
A Michael Jordan Fan's Heartbreak:
http://members.tripod.com/~mj23/mj.html
"I've failed over and over and over again in my life...
and that is why I succeed."
--Michael Jordan
"If you chase something, then sometimes you never get it.
If you put forth the work and all the attitude, next thing you know
it's bestowed upon you."
--Michael Jordan
__________________________________________________________
James Berardinelli
AMISTAD
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING: ***1/2 OUT OF ****
United States, 1997
U.S. Release Date: 12/12/97 (limited); 12/25/97 (wide)
Running Length: 2:37
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, mature themes, nudity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Morgan Freeman,
Anthony Hopkins, Nigel Hawthorne, Stellan Skarsgard, David Paymer,
Pete Postlethwaite, Anna Paquin
Director: Steven Spielberg
Producers: Steven Spielberg, Debbie Allen, and Colin Wilson
Screenplay: David Franzoni
Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski
Music: John Williams
U.S. Distributor: Dreamworks SKG
Here's a word analogy: AMISTAD is to THE LOST WORLD as SCHINDLER'S
LIST is to JURASSIC PARK. In 1993, after Steven Spielberg made the
monster dino hit, many critics described SCHINDLER'S LIST as the
director's "penance" (as if there was a need for him to apologize for
making a crowd-pleasing blockbuster). Now, after a three-year layoff,
Spielberg is back with a vengeance. Once again, his summer release was
special effects-loaded action/adventure flick with dinosaurs munching on
human appetizers. Now, following his 1993 pattern, he has fashioned
another serious, inspirational Christmas release about the nature of
humanity. That film is AMISTAD.
Although not as masterful as SCHINDLER'S LIST, AMISTAD is
nevertheless a gripping motion picture. Thematically rich, impeccably
crafted, and intellectually stimulating, the only area where this movie
falls a little short is in its emotional impact. Watching SCHINDLER'S
LIST was a powerful, almost spiritual, experience. Spielberg pulled us
into the narrative, absorbed us in the drama, then finally let us go,
exhausted and shattered, three-plus hours later. Aspects of the movie
have stayed with me ever since. AMISTAD, while a fine example of film
making, is not as transcendent.
The incident of the ship La Amistad is not found in any history
books, but, considering who writes the texts, that's not a surprise.
However, the event is a part of the American social and legal fabric,
and, while AMISTAD does not adhere rigorously to the actual account,
most of the basic facts are in order. Several, mostly minor changes
have been made to enhance the film's dramatic force. On the whole,
while AMISTAD may not be faithful to all of the details of the
situation, it is true to the spirit and meaning of what transpired.
One stormy night during the summer of 1839, the 53 men imprisoned
on the Spanish slave ship La Amistad escape. Led by the lion-hearted
Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), they take control of the vessel, killing most
of the crew. Adrift somewhere off the coast of Cuba and uncertain how
to make their way back to Africa, they rely on the two surviving
Spaniards to navigate the eastward journey. They are tricked, however,
and the La Amistad, which makes its way northward off the United States'
eastern coastline, is eventually captured by an American naval ship near
Connecticut. The kidnapped Africans are shackled and thrown into
prison, charged with murder and piracy.
The first men to come to the Africans' defense are abolitionists
Theodore Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and Lewis Tappan (Stellan Skarsgard).
They are soon joined by Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey), a property
attorney of little repute. Aided by advice from former President John
Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins), Baldwin proves a more persuasive orator
than anyone gave him credit for, and his central argument -- that the
prisoners were illegally kidnapped free men, not property -- convinces
the judge. But powerful forces have aligned against Baldwin's cause.
Current President Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne), eager to please
Southern voters and 11-year old Queen Isabella of Spain (Anna Paquin),
begins pulling strings behind-the-scenes to ensure that none of the
Africans goes free.
At its heart, AMISTAD is a tale of human courage. Cinque is a
heroic figure whose spirit remains unbreakable regardless of the pain
and indignity he is subjected to. He is a free man, not a slave, and,
while he recognizes that he may die as a result of his struggle, he will
not give it up. Effectively portrayed by newcomer Djimon Hounsou, whose
passion and screen presence arrest our attention, Cinque is the key to
viewers seeing the AMISTAD Africans as more than symbols in a battle of
ideologies. They are individuals, and our ability to make that
distinction is crucial to the movie's success. To amplify this point,
Spielberg presents many scenes from the Africans' point-of-view,
detailing their occasionally-humorous observations about some of the
white man's seemingly-strange "rituals".
The larger struggle is, of course, one of defining humanity. As
the Nazis felt justified in slaughtering Jews because they viewed their
victims as "sub-human," so the pro-slavery forces of AMISTAD use a
similar defense. The abolitionists regard the Africans as men, but the
slavers and their supporters see them as animals or property. In a
sense, the morality of slavery is on trial here with the specter of
civil war, which would break out less than three decades later, looming
over everything.
AMISTAD's presentation of the legal and political intricacies
surrounding the trial are fascinating, making this movie one of the most
engrossing courtroom dramas in recent history. Four claimants come
forward against the Africans: the state, which wants them tried for
murder; the Queen of Spain, who wants them handed over to her under the
provision of an American/Spanish treaty; two American naval officers,
who claim the right of high seas salvage; and the two surviving
Spaniards from La Amistad, who demand that their property be returned to
them. Baldwin must counter all of these claims, while facing a
challenge to his own preconceived notions as the result of a
relationship he develops with Cinque. Even though attorney and client
are divided by a language barrier, they gradually learn to communicate.
Aside from Cinque, who is a fully-realized individual,
characterization is spotty, but the acting is top-notch. Matthew
McConaughey successfully overcomes his "pretty boy" image to become
Baldwin, but the lawyer is never particularly well-defined outside of
his role in the La Amistad case. Likewise, while Morgan Freeman and
Stellan Skarsgard are effective as Joadson and Tappan, they are never
anything more than "abolitionists." Nigel Hawthorne, who played the
title character in THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE, presents Martin Van Buren
as a spineless sycophant to whom justice means far less than winning an
election. Finally, there's Anthony Hopkins, whose towering portrayal of
John Quincy Adams is as compelling as anything the great actor has
recently done. Hopkins, who can convincingly play such diverse figures
as a serial killer, an emotionally-crippled English butler, and Richard
Nixon, makes us believe that he is Adams. His ten-minute speech about
freedom and human values is unforgettable.
One point of difference worth noting between AMISTAD and
SCHINDLER'S LIST is this film's lack of a well-defined human villain.
SCHINDLER'S LIST had Ralph Fiennes' superbly-realized Amon Goeth, who
was not only a three-dimensional character, but a personification of all
that the Nazis stood for. There is no such figure in AMISTAD. The
villain is slavery, but an ideology, no matter how evil, is rarely the
best adversary. It is to Spielberg's credit that he has fashioned such
a compelling motion picture without a prominent antagonist.
AMISTAD's trek to the screen, which encountered some choppy waters
(author Barbara Chase-Riboud has cried plagiarism, a charge denied by
the film makers), comes in the midst of an upsurge of interest in the
incident. An opera of the same name opened in Chicago on November 29,
1997. Numerous books about the subject are showing up on bookstore
shelves. It remains to be seen how much longevity the AMISTAD phenomena
has, but one thing is certain -- with Spielberg's rousing, substantive
film leading the way, the spotlight has now illuminated this chapter of
American history.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli
e-mail: bera...@mail.cybernex.net
Now with more than 1300 reviews...
The ReelViews web site: http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/
"No art passes our conscience in the way film does, and goes directly to our
feelings, deep down into the dark rooms of our souls"
- Ingmar Bergman
Scott Renshaw
AMISTAD
(DreamWorks)
Starring: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan
Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Pete Postlethwaite, Stellan Skarsgaard.
Screenplay: David Franzoni.
Producers: Debbie Allen, Steven Spielberg and Colin Wilson.
Director: Steven Spielberg.
MPAA Rating: R (nudity, violence, adult themes)
Running Time: 153 minutes.
Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
AMISTAD is no SCHINDLER'S LIST. Think it unfair if you must, but
Steven Spielberg is going to face comparisons like that for the rest of
his film-making career. In the case of AMISTAD, those comparisons are
going to be even harder to avoid, given the proximity in time (it's
Spielberg's first "serious" film since the Oscar-winning SCHINDLER in
1993), the subject matter (the trials of an oppressed people) and the
situational familiarity (if it's the December after a Spielberg dinosaur
movie, it must be time for a Spielberg fact-based historical epic).
Spielberg may never make another SCHINDLER'S LIST -- even the most
successful home run hitter isn't likely to knock _two_ World
Series-winning grand slams -- but he did raise his personal bar. Now that
we know what he's capable of, we're not going to let him get away with
choosing less than stellar material.
AMISTAD is hardly a half-hearted effort; in fact, there are a couple
of scenes which rank with Spielberg's best work as a director. It is,
however, a piece of material which ends up providing far less impact than
it should. The film is based on the true story of an 1840s court case
involving 44 black men and women, led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), accused
of piracy for an uprising against their capters on the Spanish slaving
ship "La Amistad." Found off the coast of Long Island by a U.S. Navy
ship, the blacks become the subject of an intense and controversial series
of legal challenges. Are they the property of the two surviving members
of the "Amistad" crew? Are they the property of Queen Isabella (Anna
Paquin)? Are they the property of the naval officers who claim salvage
rights? Or are they the property of no one, free men illegally captured
from their homes in Africa?
It is the latter point which is argued by attorney Roger Baldwin
(Matthew McConaughey), assisted by abolitionists Theodore Joadson (Morgan
Freeman) and Lewis Tappan (Stellan Skarsgaard), with further assistance
from former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins). Faced with
direct opposition from struggling incumbent President Martin Van Buren
(Nigel Hawthorne, looking even more befuddled than he did in THE MADNESS
OF KING GEORGE) as the case becomes a flashpoint for Southern grumbling
over the slavery issue, Baldwin tries to overcome a profound language gap
and get Cinque to tell his own story. AMISTAD is at its best when Cinque
is telling his story, allowing the electrifying performance of Djimon
Hounsou to take center stage. Though he utters only half a dozen English
words through the entire film, Hounsou's impassioned work brings to life
an intelligent man trying to understand a thoroughly perplexing new world.
He is the heart and soul of AMISTAD.
If it had ever been made clear that AMISTAD is Cinque's story, the
film could have been a masterpiece. Instead, David Franzoni's script
allows too many characters to flirt with the impression that the story is
all about them. Freeman, as a former slave turned anti-slavery advocate,
somehow gets first billing despite disappearing for most of the film;
McConaughey plays his noble lawyer from A TIME TO KILL with mutton chops,
but without a sense of what the case means to him; Hopkins'
borderline-senile Adams has little to do before delivering his oration
before the Supreme Court. Franzoni also tosses off one of the story's
most crucial pieces of historical trivia -- that while slavery was still
legal in 1839, capturing Africans was not -- as though it were common
knowledge. The "Amistad" case was a messy piece of history, but the
script only serves to make it messier, obscuring the human drama in a
muddle of over-plotting.
When AMISTAD does give the Africans' plight its undivided attention,
it's a gripping piece of film-making. As he did with the horror of the
concentration camps, Spielberg provides unflinching images of the horrors
of slave ships without exploiting those horrors. He also creates a
splendid sequence in which one African's Bible lesson to Cinque is
cross-cut with one man's struggle of Christian conscience. If only there
had been more of those moments, more singularity of purpose, more
complexity of character. Spielberg brought in SCHINDLER scribe Steven
Zaillian to do some doctoring on the AMISTAD script, but the doctor
couldn't turn merely good into great. AMISTAD is a solidly made film.
It's just no...well, you know.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 Schindler's ships: 7.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Visit Scott Renshaw's MoviePage
http://www.inconnect.com/~renshaw/
***
Subscribe to receive new reviews directly by email!
See the MoviePage for details, or reply to this message with subject line
"Subscribe".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Rhodes
_______________________________________________________________________
AMISTAD
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ** 1/2
As the abolitionists kneel in prayer and song before the jail, the
African slaves imprisoned inside cannot figure out what to make of this
weird group. At first they think these strange people prostrating
before them are sick, but then they decide that they must be
entertainers. But why are the entertainers all so sad?
AMISTAD is Steven Spielberg's earnest movie based on a true story
of a group of Africans who in 1839 revolted and commandeered the slave
ship (La Amistad) upon which they were being transported. With the
film, Spielberg boldly comes out foursquare against slavery -- not a
very controversial or original idea.
Although Spielberg devises many powerful scenes for the movie, his
staging confuses more often than it enlightens. When the slaves speak,
for example, we frequently do not get English subtitles, but when their
captors speak in Spanish, we get their every word translated.
Told by a host of known actors, almost all white, the overly long
movie never takes the time to develop more than the one slave -- Joseph
Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) -- into a real character. The other slaves
make up a large faceless mass. With over two and a half hours of
movie, in which Spielberg devotes time to incidents as small as young
Queen Isabella of Spain (Anna Paquin) jumping up and down on her bed,
why we couldn't hear from more than one slave remains a mystery.
In ROSEWOOD, a much better film from earlier this year, we heard
from a wide variety of African-Americans, which made their plight real
and vivid. Why did Spielberg feel he needed to devote so much money
and screen time to a group of known actors (Anthony Hopkins, Matthew
McConaughey, Morgan Freeman, Nigel Hawthorne, Stellan Skarsgard, Anna
Paquin, David Paymer and Arliss Howard among others) as the people
aiding the slaves and then create only a single decent part (Cinque)
for the slaves themselves? How effective would SHINDLER'S LIST have
been if only the Nazis and the Allies got parts, but the Jews were
relegated to a single character?
After the slaves revolt in AMISTAD, they are tricked into sailing
to America, thinking it is Africa. Once near the shore they were
captured by an American naval ship and taken in for trial.
The case itself has many intricacies, both in the number of
litigants and in the strategy of the slaves' defense attorney. Matthew
McConaughey plays Roger Baldwin, the slaves' tricky but effective
lawyer. Several groups sue for ownership of the slaves, but the script
never takes the time to explore the issues as effectively as it should.
Instead, we get a Cliff's Notes-style outline of the case plus a few
random scenes of the trials.
When Spielberg should be storytelling, too often we get theatrics
instead. Cinque, for example, bursts out in the middle of their trial
and starts speaking for the first time in English. "Give us free," he
shouts repeatedly, thereby bringing the trial to a complete standstill.
Rather than anyone trying to repress the outbursts of the prisoner,
everyone stares in awe at him as the music contains something
approaching the sounds of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir raising a loud
voice to heaven.
Morgan Freeman and Stellan Skarsgard play Joadson and Tappan, the
two abolitionists who hire Baldwin. Freeman gets little dialog and is
basically wasted in the movie. But then, most of the characters in the
film exist mainly in caricature. Tappan, for example, is the canonical
do-gooder who is perfectly willing to let others die for his cause.
"They may be of more value to our cause in death than in life," Tappan
explains to Baldwin.
Nigel Hawthorne repeats his Academy Award nominated role of George
III, except this time his character is addressed as President Martin
Van Buren.
The best performance in the picture, and the only one with any
depth, is given by Anthony Hopkins as the semi-senile, ex-president
John Quincy Adams. Adams comes into the story mainly at the last as he
argues the slaves' case in front of the Supreme Court. "We've come to
understand that who we are is who we were," he orates in his moving and
complicated address to the court.
Even given the film's ponderous pacing, the slaves' story does
come out. We see extremely gory pictures of naked people being beaten
to death as their blood splatters everyone nearby, and we see naked
human beings chained together, attached to a weight and thrown to their
deaths in the ocean.
"Whoever tells the best story wins," is Adams's advice on how best
to conduct the trial. Spielberg should have listened. All in all,
AMISTAD is an excellent story, poorly told.
AMISTAD runs 2:37. It is rated R for gore, nudity and mature
themes, and would be fine for teenagers who can handle gruesome images.
David Sunga
Amistad (1997)
Rating: 3.0 stars (out of 4.0)
********************************
Key to rating system:
2.0 stars Debatable
2.5 stars Some people may like it
3.0 stars I liked it
3.5 stars I am biased in favor of the movie
4.0 stars I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out
*********************************
A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by:
Steven Spielberg
Written by:
David Franzoni
Starring:
Djimon Hounsou, Anthony Hopkins, and Matthew McConaughey
Ingredients:
Male model bodies, crucifix imagery, legal talk with big speech in the
end
Synopsis:
In this movie, Steven Spielberg, one of today's finest directors,
attempts to spice up the 1800s story of a long courtroom battle over the
fate of prisoner Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) - - a young angry man from
Sierra Leone who was kidnapped into slavery - - and his fellow
prisoners. Cinque and friends have landed a ship on the shores of
America after escaping Spanish slave traders, but since the Americans
don't speak Cinque's language, the black men are hauled into court to
determine whether or not they are legally slaves. Technically, since the
international slave trade was outlawed at that time, people like Cinque
couldn't be kidnapped into slavery; one had to be born a slave to be
legally considered a slave. Lawyers Baldwin and Adams (Matthew
McConaughey and Anthony Hopkins) must prove Cinque and the others were
captured into slavery, rather than born slaves, in order to get them out
of prison as free men. Three lengthy court cases are portrayed with
Spielberg's trademark panache - - flashy beginning, lots of facial
close-ups, big music, and dramatic imagery. A final speech by Adams is
followed by an anticlimax where subtitles show what eventually happened
to the various characters.
Opinion:
Making a fictional movie is easier than making one about real life. In
fiction, one invents purposeful, clear-cut good guys and bad guys, puts
the fictional characters in conflict, and takes the tale to its exciting
conclusion. Real life, however, consists of long stretches of boredom
with a few dramatic moments and characters who stand around, think
thoughts and do nothing, or come and go before events are resolved.
Spielberg gives us a visually spicy and historically accurate real life
story. Djimon Hounsou and Anthony Hopkins turn in excellent
performances.
Reviewed by David Sunga
December 13, 1997
Edward Johnson-ott
Amistad (1997)
Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman,
Rated R, 2.5 stars (out of 5 stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott
www.nuvo-online.com/film/
In 1839, 53 Africans, held under horrific conditions on the Spanish slave
ship La Amistad, broke free and killed most of the crew. They tried to
force two survivors to take them home, but the ship was captured and the
Africans found themselves in America, imprisoned again and embroiled in a
massive legal battle, with ramifications far beyond their particular case.
The story of these Africans is important and needed to be told. It’s a
shame Steven Spielberg does such a poor job telling it.
"Amistad" is a maddening film because it comes so close to greatness. To
be sure, there are magnificent scenes, particularly the opening of the
movie, depicting the revolt on the ship. The segment is dark, brutal and
thrilling, mesmerizing because it taps into the fundamental nature of the
human condition, that desperate need for life and freedom. Unfortunately,
for most of the movie Spielberg inexplicably takes an academic approach
to slavery, reducing the Africans to noble props in a series of extremely
tired courtroom scenes. Instead of looking into the personalities of the
Africans and the psychology of slavery, we watch stuffy white guys in
silly outfits debating the legal minutiae of the issue.
Matthew McConaughey plays the lawyer for the Africans. In granny glasses
and curls, he looks like a frat boy in a college play, and his unfocused
performance adds little to the movie. Morgan Freeman fares better as a
former slave turned abolitionist, but he isn’t given much to do. Anthony
Hopkins, however, gets loads of screen time as former President John
Quincy Adams, reluctantly drawn into the case. Hopkins gives a bizarre
performance, shuffling about while alternating between mumbling and
bellowing at those around him. In early scenes, he appears to be quite
senile, but later in the film, he miraculously recovers enough to give a
long, ponderous speech to the Supreme Court.
The only African we get to know is Cinque, beautifully played by Djimon
Hounsou. The actor is remarkably expressive, creating the only fully-
realized African character. Cinque is a leader who believes himself
unworthy to lead. His doubts, confusion, defiance and bravery give us the
human connection the film so desperately needs.
In the magnificent "Schindler’s List," Spielberg showed uncharacteristic
restraint, allowing the audience to react to the story naturally. Here,
he reverts to the emotional manipulation he used in films like "E.T.,"
with John William’s overbearing musical score constantly telegraphing
what Spielberg expects us to feel. Every moment of the film is
choreographed in glossy Hollywood fashion. Even a scene depicting the
Africans’ nightmarish life on the slave ship, an extremely powerful
segment, loses some of its impact because Spielberg can’t resist
orchestrating every second, using oh-so-perfect lighting and "emaciated"
Africans with bodies straight out of Gold’s Gym.
"Amistad’s" best moments are the quiet ones. A scene where a captive
African interprets the story of Jesus based on illustrations from a Bible
is gently moving. A dinner conversation where President Martin Van Buren
(Nigel Hawthorne) receives thinly-veiled threats about a brewing civil
war sends chills up the spine. Scenes like those hint at what a great
film "Amistad" could have been.
If only Spielberg had realized that bombast is no substitute for good
storytelling. The historical account of the human beings taken captive on
La Amistad is important, but we barely get to see it here. Instead, we
get two and one half hours of Spielberg’s bells and whistles, with
lawyers pontificating while the Africans are left in the sidelines.
"Amistad" has some great moments, but great moments just aren’t enough
anymore.
Copyright 1997, Ed Johnson-Ott
Edward Champion
FILM REVIEW: AMISTAD: Will the real Spielberg please stand up?
MOVIE REVIEW: AMISTAD
RATING: **1/2 (out of four stars)
Steven Spielberg is living a Jekyll and Hyde existence. I'm
absolutely convinced of it now.
On one hand, Spielberg is capable of handling scenes with a genuine,
uninhibited emotional commitment. On the other, well卙e comes across
as a manipulative sap.
Maybe he only half understands his films. If you get Spielberg on a
good day, you get the visceral intensity of a SCHINDLER'S LIST, the
wonder of a RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, or the Howard Hawks-like
devastation of a JAWS or DUEL. Then there's the Spielberg who films a
scene because he has to, who commits his talents for the sake of faux
emotional bullshit (THE COLOR PURPLE), arsenals of vacuous visuals
(1942, JURASSIC PARK, HOOK) and 1940's romanticism that just can't be
taken seriously (ALWAYS, EMPIRE OF THE SUN).
Spielberg knows that he's capable of more than this. We know that,
given his commercial and critical success, he's in a position to get
away with anything he wants to.
Yet somehow he always settles for less.
And now, after the popcorn mentality of THE LOST WORLD, Spielberg has
given us AMISTAD. To some degree, it's refreshing to see Spielberg
realize an obscure yet fascinating historical incident. But, without
the emotional payoff, his latest offering comes off as somewhat of a
disappointment.
AMISTAD opens very powerfully aboard La Amistad, a Spanish slave ship.
We see the close-up of the darkened face of Cinque (played remarkably
by former model Djimon Hounsou) prying a nail loose from his
shackles. Soon the slaves revolt, demanding that the galleon head
back to Sierra Leone. The ship ends up colliding against the shores
of America and the slaves are taken into custody.
An abolitionist (Morgan Freeman) teams up with an ambulance-chasing
attorney (Matthew McConaughey) to fight for the rights of the slaves.
The initial trial sequence is fascinating to watch. You get this
anarchic mess of people trying to lay claim on the slaves that hints
at the prepubescent nature of our country's court system.
In fact, one of the strengths of AMISTAD is in showing a young nation
still struggling to find its identity and deal with some of the
remnants of injustice that weren't sorted out in its foundation.
There's even a touch of political back-dealing going on as President
Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne), in an effort to secure re-election
and keep foreign relations with Spain friendly, actually replaces the
judge in the middle of the legal battle. While Spielberg's claim that
the Amistad incident lead to the Civil War is a bit of a stretch, the
political and sociological implications of the incident are, to some
extent, well-grounded.
Spielberg has been criticized by many for not subtitling much of the
Mende dialogue. But the fact that we as audience members cannot
understand Cinque and the slaves actually works to the film's
advantage. It forces us to look at the slaves through their
perspective in the given historical context. We cannot fully
comprehend what they've gone through, but we're forced to understand
by not fully understanding.
There's a powerful scene of the Mendes trying to make sense out of
Christianity. (The Mende amusingly identify the many Christian
abolitionists as "mournful entertainers" throughout the film.) Cinque
and a fellow slave look through the pictures of a Bible, trying to
understand us through it, and it's an intriguing cinematic method for
us to understand their efforts at communication.
The film, however, sadly neglects the Mendes for extended John
Grisham-like trial sequences carried by the bland Matthew McCounaghey.
For all of Spielberg's astuteness with film, you would think he would
have recognized that we, as filmgoers, have been overburdened by
courtroom drama after courtroom drama. (It certainly doesn't help
that he cast the golden boy star of another Grisham adaption, A TIME
TO KILL.) Perhaps, in the hands of a more capable actor, the legal
wrestling would have had more of an impact. But these scenes are
about as convincing as the worst of Stanley Kramer's ouevre.
Emotional impact would have helped here and it's here in segments,
particularly in an extended flashback sequence illustrating Cinque's
capture and transition into slavery. We've read about this stuff in
history books but to see it actually committed to celluloid leaves you
with a devastating impact.
But we never completely understand Cinque's people. The film shifts
jarringly between their perspective and that of the Americans. It's a
bit disconcerting to try and get involved with the philosophical
questions raised in a film when it doesn't really know what it's
about.
On top of that, the obscene pontificating of John Quincy Adams (the
always amazing Anthony Hopkins) and the oppressive overlength of the
film help to eventually kill it. Like Spielberg's other film this
year, THE LOST WORLD, ideas are offered, pursued and then eventually
abandoned.
The result is SCHINDLER'S LIST LITE. You can't hate the film for what
it's about but it leaves you incredibly frustrated and unfulfilled.
And, coming from a skilled filmmaker like Spielberg, that's almost as
bad as slavery itself.