Amistad (1997)

Directed by

Steven Spielberg

Genre

drama film, trial film, white savior film

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 32m

Rated

R

Rating

7.0 of 10 from 1,432 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

African captives revolt on a Spanish slave ship and are captured by an American ship. A legal case follows over whether they are property or free people.

tenseseriousdramatichistoricalmovingcerebralslow-burn

What happens

Amistad is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by David Franzoni, 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, and Matthew McConaughey star, along with Djimon Hounsou in his breakout role as Cinqué; Pete Postlethwaite, Nigel Hawthorne and Chiwetel Ejiofor appear in supporting roles. Amistad was released by DreamWorks Pictures on December 10, 1997. The film received largely positive critical reviews and grossed $58.3 million worldwide against a $39 million budget. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

More like this

• Four Days in September (1997)
• The Rainmaker (1997)
• Rosewood (1997)
• Souls at Sea (1937)
• A Time to Kill (1996)
• Music of the Heart (1999)
• The Advocate’s Devil (1997)
• Titanic (1997)