Amistad (film)

''Amistad'' is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the events in 1839 aboard the Spanish slave ship '' La Amistad'', during which Mende tribesmen abducted for the slave trade managed to gain control of their captors' ship off the coast of Cuba, and the international legal battle that followed their capture by the ''Washington'', a U.S. revenue cutter. The case was ultimately resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1841.

Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, and Matthew McConaughey had starring roles. David Franzoni's screenplay was based on the 1987 book '' Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy'', by professor Howard Jones.

The film received largely positive critical reviews and grossed over $58 million worldwide.

Plot

The schooner ''La Amistad'' is transporting black slaves off the coast of the Spanish colony of Cuba in 1839. A captive, Cinqué, leads an uprising against the crew, most of whom are killed. Two navigators, Pedro Montez and Jose Ruiz, are spared on condition they help sail the ship to Africa. The Spaniards predictably betray them and instead sail into US waters, where the ship is stopped by the U.S. revenue cutter ''Washington'', and the mutineers are arrested.

A complicated legal battle ensues over the slaves. United States Attorney William S. Holabird brings charges of piracy and murder against them, but they are simultaneously claimed as property both by Montez & Ruiz, and as salvage by two officers from the ''Washington''. The Spanish government of Queen Isabella intervenes in support of Montez & Ruiz, under the Treaty of San Lorenzo. To avoid a diplomatic incident, President Martin Van Buren directs his Secretary of State John Forsyth to support the Spanish claim. Meanwhile, abolitionist Lewis Tappan and his black associate Theodore Joadson (a former slave), resolve to help the captives. They approach the brilliant lawyer, former US president and serving U.S. representative John Quincy Adams, but he is reluctant to get involved. They instead hire the young and eccentric attorney Roger Sherman Baldwin.

Baldwin, unable to converse directly with his clients due to the language barrier, suspects the slaves are not Cubans but Africans who have been kidnapped and transported illegally as part of the banned transatlantic slave trade. He and Joadson search ''La Amistad'' and find documents which prove the captives were kidnapped from Sierra Leone and transported across the Atlantic aboard the Portuguese slave ship '' Tecora'' before being transferred to ''La Amistad'' in Havana. The judge is impressed and signals his intention to dismiss the US and Spanish governments' case and release the captives.

To preclude this possibility, Van Buren replaces the judge with a younger man, Coglin, whom he believes will be easier to manipulate. Joadson seeks advice from Adams, who tells him that court cases are usually won by the side with the best 'story'. Baldwin and Joadson recruit freedman James Covey as a translator, enabling Cinqué to testify directly before the court. He describes how he was kidnapped from his home, and the horrors of the Middle Passage. Baldwin calls Captain Fitzgerald of the Royal Navy's West Africa Squadron to corroborate Cinqué's testimony. He speculates that the captives were taken aboard the ''Tecora'' at the notorious slave fort Lomboko. Under cross-examination, Fitzgerald admits there is no direct evidence of Lomboko's existence. As tension rises, Cinqué abruptly stands and demands, "Give us, us free!". Moved by Cinqué's emotion, Judge Coglin rules that the Africans are to be released, and that Montez & Ruiz are to be arrested and charged with illegal slave-trading.

Under pressure from Senator John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, who represents the slave-holding interests of the American South, Van Buren appeals the case to the Supreme Court. Baldwin and Joadson visit Adams again, and after meeting Cinqué he agrees to represent the Africans before the Supreme Court. Adams' impassioned and eloquent speech convinces the court to confirm the judgement and release the Africans.

Lomboko is stormed by Royal Marines under the command of Captain Fitzgerald, and the slaves held there are freed. Fitzgerald orders the ship's cannon to destroy the fortress, and dictates a sardonic letter to Forsyth saying that he was correct — the infamous slave fort does not now exist.

Van Buren is discredited by his failure to prevent the release of the Africans, and loses the 1840 election to William Henry Harrison. The Spanish government continues to press its claim for compensation up until the American Civil War.

Cinqué returns to Africa, but is unable to reunite with his family due to civil war in Sierra Leone.

Cast

* Djimon Hounsou as Sengbe Pieh / Joseph Cinqué
* Matthew McConaughey as Roger Sherman Baldwin
* Anthony Hopkins as John Quincy Adams
* Morgan Freeman as Theodore Joadson
* Nigel Hawthorne as President Martin Van Buren
* David Paymer as Secretary of State John Forsyth
* Pete Postlethwaite as William S. Holabird
* Stellan Skarsgård as Lewis Tappan
* Razaaq Adoti as Yamba
* Abu Bakaar Fofanah as Fala
* Anna Paquin as Queen Isabella II of Spain
* Tomas Milian as Ángel Calderón de la Barca y Belgrano
* Chiwetel Ejiofor as Ensign James Covey
* Derrick Ashong as Buakei
* Geno Silva as Jose Ruiz
* John Ortiz as Pedro Montes
* Kevin J. O'Connor as Missionary
* Ralph Brown as Lieutenant Thomas R. Gedney
* Darren E. Burrows as Lieutenant Richard W. Meade
* Allan Rich as Judge Andrew T. Judson
* Paul Guilfoyle as Attorney
* Peter Firth as Captain Charles Fitzgerald
* Xander Berkeley as Ledger Hammond
* Jeremy Northam as Judge Coglin
* Arliss Howard as John C. Calhoun
* Austin Pendleton as Professor Josiah Willard Gibbs Sr.

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