What Is Their Story?
“Whoever tells the best story wins.” Steven Spielberg puts strong emphasis on this quote throughout his movie, Amistad, which tells of the incredible journey of a group of enslaved Africans that rebel to earn back their freedom. This film gives insight into an area of history that is rarely talked about and tells the story of the slaves’ fierce rebellion that works its way through the American political system at the verge of a civil war. This heart-wrenching drama opens the viewers’ eyes to the gruesome treatment of slaves and the great legal system of that time through amazing, yet sometimes upsetting visuals. Though the topic is largely overused, the movie manages to not fall into the cliché with the help of its talented cast and distinguished director.
This movie starts off in mid 1839 aboard La Amistad (ironically meaning friendship), a Spanish slave ship on route from Havana. One captive of the ship, who came to be known as Joseph Cinque, frees himself with a bolt and then continues to free the others who arm themselves and plan their revolt. This rebellion turns into a bloody scene that takes it a little over the edge as many crewmembers are killed and only two are spared. Though in history only the cook and the captain were killed, while two escaped on a boat and the cabin boy was also saved along with the two men who had bought the slaves. The men who were saved in the movie told the slaves that they would return them to their homeland of Africa, but at night would lead them west instead, where they were captured off the shore of Connecticut. (Though in actuality, the slaves were captured off the coast of New York and later shipped to Connecticut.) The slaves were put on trial for the murder of the crew and soon many different claims were made as to whom the captives truly belonged to. The film quickly becomes a courtroom drama that expresses the slaves’ strive for freedom and comprehension of the complicated politics that seem to suppress the slaves’ after each time their future begins to look up. As the issue travels through the court system all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, more and more people get involved including former president John Quincy Adams and Martin Van Buren as well as the young Queen Isabella of Spain and the issue sinks itself deeper into the controversy of America’s own Civil War.
