Amistad review
Feb. 28th, 2009 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearThis week's rental DVD was Amistad - an intriguing and excellently executed courtroom drama, though a little harrowing in places. Every time I thought the list of fantastic actors in it had come to an end, someone else would turn up with a minor role and surprise me:
Morgan Freeman
Nigel Hawthorne
Anthony Hopkins
Djimon Hounsou
Matthew McConaughey
Pete Postlethwaite
Stellan Skarsgard
Anna Paquin
Chiwetel Ejiofor
What a great cast! Djimon Hounsou, in particular, gave an incredibly compelling performance, made even more impressive by the fact that he only spoke four words of English in the entire film. His portrayal of the leader of the slaves was deeply moving and amazingly nuanced, combining primal emotion with intellectual eloquence.
The conversion of one of the other slaves to Christianity was a little unecessary, I thought, but I have to admit it was beautifully done, as he pieced together the story of Christ from the engravings in a bible he acquired part way through.
Despite the fact that most of the film was taken up by Matthew McConaughey's character arguing the same case to the same conclusion three times in a row, the pacing was good and the story remained tense and involving throughout. I could have done without the final pieces of text that came up right at the end to say what happened when Cinque arrived home, though - bit of a downer after the triumphant climax.
Morgan Freeman
Nigel Hawthorne
Anthony Hopkins
Djimon Hounsou
Matthew McConaughey
Pete Postlethwaite
Stellan Skarsgard
Anna Paquin
Chiwetel Ejiofor
What a great cast! Djimon Hounsou, in particular, gave an incredibly compelling performance, made even more impressive by the fact that he only spoke four words of English in the entire film. His portrayal of the leader of the slaves was deeply moving and amazingly nuanced, combining primal emotion with intellectual eloquence.
The conversion of one of the other slaves to Christianity was a little unecessary, I thought, but I have to admit it was beautifully done, as he pieced together the story of Christ from the engravings in a bible he acquired part way through.
Despite the fact that most of the film was taken up by Matthew McConaughey's character arguing the same case to the same conclusion three times in a row, the pacing was good and the story remained tense and involving throughout. I could have done without the final pieces of text that came up right at the end to say what happened when Cinque arrived home, though - bit of a downer after the triumphant climax.
