Amistad (1997 film)

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Amistad

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Debbie Allen
Steven Spielberg
Colin Wilson
Written by David Franzoni
Starring Matthew McConaughey
Morgan Freeman
Anthony Hopkins
Stellan Skarsgård
Djimon Hounsou
Justice Harry Blackmun
Cinematography Janusz Kaminski
Editing by Michael Kahn
Distributed by DreamWorks Distribution
Release date(s) December 10, 1997
Running time 152 minutes
Language English
Mende
Spanish
Budget $40 million USD
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Amistad is a 1997 Steven Spielberg film based on the true story of a slave mutiny that took place aboard a ship of the same name in 1839, and the legal battle that followed. It shows how that, even though the case was won at the federal district court level, it was appealed by President Martin Van Buren to the Supreme Court, and how former President John Quincy Adams took part in the proceedings.

This was the second film for which Anthony Hopkins received an Academy Award nomination for playing a United States President, having previously been nominated in 1995 for playing Richard Nixon in Nixon.

"Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are some moments when it must be taken" - tagline.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Quotes

"The issue is not whether some rag-tag bunch of Africans raised swords against their enemies, but rather must we?" - Senator John C. Calhoun, a hint at the coming American Civil War

"Is there anything so pathetic as an ex-President?" spoken of John Quincy Adams, but overhead by Martin Van Buren and mistakenly interpreted to mean him.

[edit] Production

This was the first film directed by Spielberg that was released by DreamWorks, of which Spielberg was a co-founder.

The first fifteen minutes of the film are entirely in the Mende language, with no subtitles, depicting the seizure of the Amistad by its captive slaves and their subsequent capture by the United States Navy. Djimon Hounsou learned a certain amount of Mende, one of the languages of Sierra Leone, for his role as Cinque. The ship La Amistad in the film was not played by the Freedom Schooner Amistad from New Haven which was recreated in 2000 after the film had been released. The role of La Amistad was in fact played by another Baltimore Clipper - Pride of Baltimore.

The majority of this film was filmed in Newport, Rhode Island's downtown historic district, which has many colonial buildings. The scenes of the United States Capitol building were that of the Rhode Island State House, while some scenes were filmed at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut. The Slave Fortress destroyed at the end of the movie is actually El Morro, an old colonial fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A number of American roles in this film were played by leading British actors.

[edit] Historical accuracy

The film shows Van Buren making a whistlestop campaign for re-election. This is an anachronism; the nation's railroad network was not sufficiently advanced in 1840 to allow such a tactic (althrough it has been noted much of the railroad network was in place between New York and New Haven, and also at various sites along the mid-Atlantic coast, so it was possible it could have been done).

It was considered undignified for candidates to actively seek the presidency. Van Buren and his opponent, William Henry Harrison, allowed subordinates to do the work. It remained a convention that candidates didn't campaign for the Presidency for another sixty years after the the film is set.

[edit] Awards

  • Academy of Motion Pictures, AMPAS (1998) Nominations:
    • Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Anthony Hopkins
    • Best Cinematography, Janusz Kaminski
    • Best Costume Design, Ruth Carter
    • Best Music, Original Dramatic Score, John Williams


[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Films directed by Steven Spielberg
1970s
The Sugarland Express (1974)  · Jaws (1975)  · Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)  · 1941 (1979)
1980s
1990s
Hook (1991)  · Jurassic Park (1993)  · Schindler's List (1993)  · The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)  · Amistad (1997)  · Saving Private Ryan (1998)
2000s
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