Director: Steven Spielberg
Main Actors: Djimon Hounsou, Matthew McConaughey, Anthony Hopkins and Morgan Freeman
Synopsis: (from IMDB) Amistad is the name of a slave ship traveling from Cuba to the U.S. in 1839. It is carrying a cargo of Africans who have been sold into slavery in Cuba, taken on board, and chained in the cargo hold of the ship. As the ship is crossing from Cuba to the U.S., Cinque, who was a tribal leader in Africa, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. They continue to sail, hoping to find help when they land. Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They don't speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all. The case finally gets to the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their release.
Rating: This was an absolutely spectacular movie. You may recognize Djimon Hounsou - he was one of the main characters in "Blood Diamond". He does a spectacular job as Cinque, especially considering that he only speaks about four words of English in the entire movie. He manages to portray the raw emotion and confusion of an African slave that just doesn't understand why the American court systems don't work. One of the best quotes of the movie (as translated from his Mende native tongue): "What kind of a place is this where you almost mean what you say? Where laws almost work? How can you live like that?"
I'm fully convinced that any movie that Matthew McConaughey and Morgan Freeman do together is bound to be a blockbuster hit! This is definitely a movie to rent... get it in your Netflix queue now!!!
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