The 90s marked the peak of the popularity of director Steven Spielberg, who presented the most successful film with Jurassic Park and won his first Oscar with Schindler’s list. However, a film appeared between these two and the soldier James Ryan, which is less often watched. The historical drama Amistad (1997) received positive reviewswait with some stars and then newcomers and still stand in the shadow of the other works.
Today you can fill the Spielberg gap on TV.
The historical drama is about the uprising on a slave ship
Around 150 actors spoke for the leading role, including Will Smith, as newspapers reported at the time. In the end, Spielberg chose an almost unknown. Djimon Hounsou (Shazam), born in today’s Benin, took on the role of Cinqué, which was transported on a Spanish slave ship under inhumane conditions in 1839. Together with his fellow prisoners, Cinqué overwhelmed the crew, but is later arrested by American seafarers.
Thereupon there is a process in the United States. The Atlantic slave trade has been banned, but slaves are still allowed in parts of the United States. Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey) appears as a defender. In the meantime, US President Martin van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne) pushes to a conviction to avoid a diplomatic incident.
So you can watch Amistad on TV and stream this evening
The historical drama runs on Pluto TV this evening. The free, advertising-financed provider has our Moviepilot TV channel. Only films are shown here that do well at the Moviepilot community. With 6.8 out of 10 points, Amistad is included. The score is based on over 1,200 votes.
Amistad runs in the live channel on January 28 from 8:15 p.m. Moviepilot TV with Pluto TVwithout subscription or additional costs. You can look Pluto TV on the TV or by stream via the app, right here at Moviepilot.
Looks Amistad today from 8:15 p.m. here in the stream:
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Amistad is not a great classic Spielberg, but there are 2 sequences out
Amistad is a conventional court drama over long distances, refined with guest appearances by dignified Anthony Hopkins as ex-President John Quincy Adams. In the Spielberg canon, the film adaptation of a true story does not stand out despite the weighty topic and the first-class line-up. The film is always solid.
Big Spielberg moments offers Amistad anyway and these are (at least) two in number. On the one hand there would be the start. In the first few minutes, Cinqué unleashes the mutiny on the ship in the dark of the rainy night, only illuminated by occasional (violent) flashing. It is a brutal and almost mythically charged liberation of the enslaved people on board and one of the tougher sequences in the Work of Spielberg.
In terms of horror, however, he later goes one step further when Cinqué describes the so -called Middle Passage in court, i.e. the way to the enslavement and the forced journey from Africa to America. Images of unimaginable despair and brutality follow each other in these minutes and are worn by Djimon Hounsous figure as a narrator and witness. Amistad rightly formed the actual starting shot of his Hollywood career, which should lead to Marvel and DC via Gladiator, Blood Diamond.
This article was first published in a similar form in October 2024 at Moviepilot.