Among Spielberg’s “important” films, Amistad isn’t the home run that Saving Private Ryan or Schindler’s List is, but it’s still a powerful film and one with an incredible ensemble cast anchored by Anthony Hopkins in an Oscar-nominated performance as former President John Quincy Adams.
In today’s political climate, it’s hard to imagine, but after Adams lost his bid for re-election as President, he ended up running for Congress and returned to the House of Representatives (the only former President to do so) and government service. There, he was enlisted to represent the “cargo” of the slave ship La Amistad before the US Supreme Court. The Africans enslaved by the ship, had escaped the hold and slain their captors before being apprehended when their ship arrived in America. The 1839 case hinged on whether this was a matter of kidnapped human beings rising up and shaking off their chains or human cargo that should be returned to its “owners”. Hopkins arguing on their behalf before the court with a ten-minute dissertation on freedom is one of the most riveting monologues and pieces of acting I’ve ever seen. Hannibal Lecter’s introduction may be the most obvious best scene of Hopkins’ career, but this is every bit as good.
Just thinking about a Spielberg movie, any Spielberg movie, puts me in a good mood. Okay, maybe not Schindler or Munich, but Private Ryan actually does, and so does this. To my mind The Color Purple is a much more effective Spielberg commentary on racism, with better performances, and so much more life. Amistad always felt a little inert to me, and I always thought that Hopkins gave a stagey, unconvincing performance. I was always hyperaware it was him, under prosthetics. But not every film is a masterpiece, and some can squeak by on mere exceptional quality, and I always associate Amistad with the time when every film from Steve was an event. They just aren’t anymore, not even to me. I look forward to them, but I don’t think of them as the highlights of their years.
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Well I agree the film as a whole doesn’t quite work, but completely disagree about Hopkins. I think it’s one of his best performances.
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