In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.
Acting
Djimon Hounsou's eyes do what pages of dialogue cannot.
Direction
Spielberg finally lets silence and stillness carry the weight.
Writing
Adams' courtroom speech: a masterclass in slow-burn rhetoric.
Director
Steven Spielberg
Morgan Freeman
Theodore Joadson
Nigel Hawthorne
Martin Van Buren
Anthony Hopkins
John Quincy Adams
Djimon Hounsou
Cinque
Matthew McConaughey
Roger Sherman Baldwin
David Paymer
Secretary John Forsyth
Pete Postlethwaite
Holabird
Stellan Skarsgård
Tappan
Razaaq Adoti
Yamba
Anna Paquin
Queen Isabella
Tomas Milian
Calderon
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Ensign Covey
Derrick N. Ashong
Buakei
Geno Silva
Ruiz
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Baldwin was 33, not McConaughey's 28 — but the bigger lie is that he was ever this idealistic.
Spielberg shot the slave ship scenes in handheld specifically to evoke Schindler's List's documentary immediacy, but critics argued it aestheticized suffering.
US
