"Now what would I do in that situation?"

Rating: 8/10 (5 December 2006)

I finally own the DVD and saw it again last night.It is the riveting story of the plight of a handful of Africians and their ordeal at the hands of slave traders and their subsequent trial for a massacre aboard the slave ship. Now some people have criticized the introduction of the bible element into the story and at first I was right up there with them. Oh please! But then after seeing it again I could see something different.
The new judge (with no jury) was obviously inexperienced and handpicked to ensure that the verdict against the blacks went only one way. So the night before the final verdict, while Cinque and his friend look at the bible pictures, much the same way a child would in Sunday School, the judge kneels in a church praying for some kind of divine hand to show him what to do because obviously he is only there because he has a conscience. The similarity to Christ suffering in the Garden was rather obvious although perhaps we all suffer in our own self made Gardens at some time in our lives...perhaps the judge because he accepted not only the case but perhaps some hint of later advances to his career. Who knows. Of course there is no divine intervention (as there was none for the Jews in Schlindler's List), there is only that thin fabric of humanity where one man looks at another (black or white, Christian or Jew) and knows that they are equal and then acts on that gut feeling. Here the judge decided to let the Africians go... but at what cost. The look on his face after pronouncing the verdict and the reaction of several people in the court tells it all. I thought this movie was very thought provoking especially the moments that made us ask,"Now what would I do in that situation?"