A movie to expose the horrors of slavery and the conflict surrounding it.

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2016)

In 1839, a group of slaves aboard the Amistad, a Spanish ship sailing to the United States from Cuba revolted against their captors. Amistad, the movie, is based upon the true story of the group's journey from this point on. Within the opening minutes of the film, viewers are shown the awful conditions experienced on a slave ship. Immediately following is a gruesome, violent revolt warranted possibly by the treatment endured.
Amongst the rebel slaves from Western Africa is a man named Cinque who emerges as the leader of the group before the film begins. It is him whose background is exposed around midway through the film in a successful attempt to further the idea that slavery is a terrible endeavor. Scenes of his kidnapping and experiences on slave ships expose the true cruelty that was shown toward slaves or slaves-to-be. One scene that was particularly unnerving was that of the systematic drowning of fifty people who were seen as no more than access cargo. The beating, starving, and killing of slaves who were deemed useless was not uncommon as depicted by the film.
All is not grim for the Africans, however. They are supported by a number of important characters including president John Quincy Adams. In spite of the risks at hand because of the vehement feelings on either opposing sides of slavery, it is he who ultimately gives them freedom after it had been stripped of them on numerous occasions. Without the support of him, as well as others such as their lawyer Roger Sherman Baldwin, it would have been impossible for the Cinque and his group to return home. The conflict between those fighting for the Africans and those fighting to return them into slavery is symbolic of conflict that existed between abolitionists and slavery supporters.
To conclude, Amistad is a film that rather accurately describes the case surrounding the ¨cargo¨ aboard the actual Amistad as well as the situation regarding slavery in the United States during this time.