All About African Slavery

Rating: 9/10 (18 September 2012)

Amistad is a historical film directed by Steven Spielberg.The movie stars a talented cast that includes Morgan Freeman,Anthony Hopkins,Djimon Hounsou,Matthew McConaughey,Nigel Hawthorne,Stellan Skarsgård,Harry Blackmun and Anna Paquin.
It was based on the true story of an uprising in 1839 by newly captured African slaves that took place aboard the ship La Amistad off the coast of Cuba, the subsequent voyage to the Northeastern United States, and the legal battle that followed their capture by a United States revenue cutter. It shows how, 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.
The movie opens showing Cinque and the other Africans in a violent takeover of the Amistad. Captured, they are imprisoned in New England where former slave Theodore Joadson, viewing the rebels as "freedom fighters," approaches property lawyer Baldwin, who attempts to prove the Africans were "stolen goods" because they were kidnapped. Running for re-election, President Martin Van Buren overturns the lower court's decision in favor of the Africans. Former President John Quincy Adams is reluctant to become involved, but when the case moves on to the Supreme Court, Adams stirs emotions with a powerful defense. The story line occasionally cuts away to Spain where the young Queen Isabella plays with dolls; she later debated the Amistad case with seven U.S. presidents.
Amistad is worth seeing just for people to know about this important story, this moment in history.This is the most straightforward, understated, and powerful big-screen representation of the slavery in recent movie history. And for that, it should be recommended to everyone.