..freedom is not a given..

Rating: 10/10 (7 June 2006)

What a lovely sentiment "it is our right at birth"....."sometimes it has to be taken" is often the case. How tragic the countries in Africa are still slaughtering, enslaving their own citizens....breaking females' legs so they cannot escape during rape. Comparing "Amistad" with those current facts sends the message it's never changed, just how it's done and why. This film let us see the workings of our country when it was young.
I didn't read so many of the other comments, because I knew this movie is not widely-known. How sad that some thought it was a drag; it takes time to develop such a tragic plot. Although the beginning of it was gruesome, it had no explosions to color the screen. What colored the screen was the agony humans inflict on one another - it also wasn't important to me what other viewers thought of the film, because I've studied it enough to know my opinion will never change - it deserves a "30". I WAS surprised that Morgan Freeman got top billing over Hopkins; I'm a big fan of Freeman, but that's stretching it some. McConaughey was brilliant, as all were who played in the movie - cardboard characters, or not - The "entertainers" were just as important to the story as was Hopkins, whose soliloquy . I understood every word - the scenes between McConaughey and Hounsou were spell-binding. The "Bible" scene was particularly touching. "Cinque" may not have spoken English, but he certainly could discern the animosity in the early court-scenes:
"....give us free".....broke my heart, because it is STILL a plea heard in today's world. The empathy between the lowly lawyer and the freed black man in The Supreme Court spoke volumes....the slaughter of the slaves by drowning came immediately to my mind. But, the most poignant of that topic was the young mother who silently slipped, with her baby, into the ocean.
After the fireworks of the destruction of the slave-fortress, and the ultimate happiness of the Mendes sailing home - only to learn their people have been sold into slavery - trumpets the criminal selling of females in The Mid-East into prostitution.
Spielberg has created a timeless, raceless masterpiece. Yes, every individual needs to see this movie, to understand that slavery of some kind is prevalent in every society. "Amistad" is a must-see for all.