AMISTAD MOVIE REVIEW

About a 1839 mutiny aboard a slave ship that is traveling towards the northeastern coast of America. Much of the story involves a court-room drama about the free man who led the revolt.

Directed by:

 Steven Spielberg

The movie “Amistad” is based on a true story. This movie was depicted and focuses much more about illegal slavery of the African natives and how they could be freed. Searching and finding for answers is very much challenging and frustrating to the persons who volunteered their selves to help the victims. Slavery could, I suppose, be seen largely as a matter of laws and property--at least to those benefitting from it. This legal distinction is not made as clear as it could have been; the international slave trade had been outlawed by treaties by 1839, the year of the landmark Amistad incident, but those who were already slaves remained the property of their masters--as did their children. The moral hair-splitting underlying that distinction is truly depraved, but on it depends the defense of Cinque, the leader of the Africans, and his fellow mutineers.

The film opens on the ship Amistad, where Cinque (Djimon Hounsou) leads the rebellion to fight against the Spanish crew of the ship taking them to a Havana slave market to another destination in Cuba. He was able to free himself from shackles and release his fellow prisoners. Bloodsheds are everywhere as cruelty fighting back and angered dominated in the scene. Leaving two men who bought them for the reason they promised to take them back and guide the ship to Africa where they came from. But betrayal arises between them and instead they guide it into U.S. waters, and the Africans find themselves in an American court.

Fortunately, it is a Northern court, or they would have little chance at all. They are unfortunate at first with their defense team, which is led by Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey), a real estate lawyer who bases his case on property law and only slowly comes to see his clients as human beings. The cause is supported by two Boston abolitionists, a former slave named Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and an immigrant named Tappan (Stellan Skarsgard). And eventually, on appeal, former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) argues eloquently for the freedom of the men.

“Amistad,” as compared to Spielberg's “Schindler's List,” is not just simply an argument against immorality. Both movies are showing of the evilness of slavery and the Holocaust at those rigid times. Both films are about the ways of good men who tries to work realistically within an evil system to spare a few of its victims. Schindler's strategies are ingenious and suspenseful, and lead to a more gripping and powerful film than the legal tactics in “Amistad,” where lawyers in powdered wigs try to determine the origin of men whose language they do not speak. “Schindler’s List” works better as narrative because it is about a risky deception, while “Amistad” is about the searching for the truth that, if found, will be considered as a small consolation to the millions of existing slaves.

I was horrible with my emotions in “Amistad” where there was a scene of food shortage on the ship. There were weaker captives chained together and thrown down into the ocean leaving them drowning. It was as I felt my heart crumped and my eyes were unable to seek justice for those poor and innocent Africans. Another sequence in which the mechanics of the slave trade are examined as Africans captures members of enemy tribes and sells them to slave traders. A scene where Cinque sees African violets in John Quincy Adams' greenhouse and is seized with homesickness and Cinque's memory of his wife left in Africa.

“Amistad” the way it provides faces and names for its African characters, whom the movies so often make into faceless victims was the most valuable part. Cinque stands out as the leader of the captives emerges as a powerful individual who once-free farmer and has lost his wife and family. He could not speak English, but amazingly learns a little while in prison.

Luckily, they found a translator who helps in bridging them to understand him and helps him express his dismay at a legal system that may free him but will not affirm the true nature of the crime against him. To see its contradictions, he learns enough of Western civilization, as in a scene where a fellow captive uses an illustrated Bible to explain how he can identify with Jesus.

And there is a touching scene between lawyer and client in which Joadson at last talks to Cinque as a man and not as a piece in a puzzle. “Give us free!” Cinque cries in a powerful moment in the courtroom, indicating how irrelevant a “not guilty” verdict would be to the real facts of his case. 

Djimon Hounsou's (Cinque) performance depends largely on his screen presence, which is formidable. Some of the other performances are disappointing. I was surprised how little importance or screen time was given to the Morgan Freeman character, who in his few scenes indicates the volumes that remain concealed. I thought he would be the man who could save the Africans from slavery but it seems like he was just only part of the movie as a decoration so that some people would be interested to watch the movie as he is one of the fine actors who has a heart touching and one of a kind movies.

Matthew McConaughey's character is necessarily unfocused as the defense attorney; he proceeds from moral blindness to a light that surprises no one, and while we are happy for him we are not, under the circumstances, much moved.

Nigel Hawthorne plays President Martin Van Buren, who is portrayed as a spineless compromiser who wants only to keep the South off his back.

Anthony Hopkins’ powerful performance as old John Quincy Adams, who just speaks for 11 minutes in defense of the defendants, and holds the courtroom (and the audience) spellbound. It was considered as one of the great movie courtroom speeches. It was really the heart of the film. It captures the mind and heart of viewers bringing them to a real courtroom. But in praising it, I touch on the film's great weakness: It is too much about the law and not enough about the victims.

MULTI NARRATIVES - BABEL

Tragedy strikes a married couple on vacation in the Moroccan desert, touching off an interlocking story involving four different families.Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
According to its plot:Babel focuses on four interrelated sets of situations and characters, and many events are revealed out of sequence. The following plot summary has been simplified and thus does not reflect the exact sequence of the events on screen.Interestingly, the three settings for the plot are located on approximately the same latitude with each approximately 120° apart in longitude.The story started in a remote area location in Morocco. Abdullah, a goat herder, buys a rifle from his neighbor Hassan Ibrahim. He bought the rifle for the purpose of shooting the jackals that have been preying on his goats. Abdullah has two young sons and gives them the rifle. The sons, Yussef and Ahmed were send out to tend the herd. In the film both established a degree of competitiveness between whose the better son. There was a shooting competition between them. Ahmed attempted to hit a rock and a moving car, but unfortunately failed. Yussef on the other hand, hits the bus containing Western tourist. He thought it didn't hit anyone but it did.


The bullet hit Susan Jones, who has with her husband Richard Jones. They were on a vacation in Morocco to get away from things and trying to save their marital woes. Susan was bleeding and fatal. They were taken to a nearest village to get some help. The response for help takes time and the only thing they can depend on was the Moroccans who lived near. Other Americans from the bus tries to leave them because they think that they are not safe in the place for Moroccans are stereotyped as terrorists. But eventually the bus leaves without them. In the film, it showed how the Moroccan tourist guide aids them without leaving them on air. 

 Meanwhile, Susan and Richard has 2 children in America. The children were left by their Mexican Nanny Amelia. Amelia has to attend her son's wedding but unable to secure any other help to care with the children. She asked Richard but advice her to cancel the wedding. Amelia badly wants to attend the wedding and decided to take with her the children without the permission of the parents. She brought them in Mexico with her nephew Santiago who drove them there. Amelia decided to go back to U.S in the evening. Unfortunately, a commotion happened between an officer with her nephew on a checkpoint. The border guards become suspicious behavior for he has been drinking heavily and bringing the American children in the car. He tries to escape leaving Amelia and the children in a dark deserted area. The sun has showed up,but Santiago can't be seen from nowhere. Amelia hopelessly finding for help leave the children in the deserted place trying to secure some help. She was found by an officer but gets deported.
On the other part of the globe. In Japan, tells a story of Chieko Wataya a rebellious deaf-mute Japanese teenage girl. She is angry with his father Yasujiro Wataya. She was hopeless and felt no one else is with her when her mother died who committed suicide. As a rebellious daughter, she goes out with her friends who has the same illness. She was also portrayed as sexually frustrated trying to find someone who can fulfill her needs. There was two police who has been looking for her father. She thought it was because of her mother's death but eventually not. She desired for the younger looking police and tries to seduce him by inviting her over their condo to get some interview but ends up naked. But the police didn't abused Chieko but instead sympathize here and gives her a warm hug letting her know there will always a hope. The officer leaves her naked and her father saw her in the balcony still naked.
All of these happenings were interrelated to each other. In a short span of time they were connected. It was all because of the rifle who was originally owned by Chieko's father who is Yasujiro. He is an avid hunter and during a trip in Morocco he gave his rifle, as a gift, to his very skilled hunting guide, Hassan, who at the beginning of the film sold the rifle to Abdullah. He ask his to sons to watch his goats. The son had a shooting competition and hit a bus and the bullet straightly got into Susan. While Susan is nearly on death Richard didn't stop asking for help to the American Embassy. At the same time it was also the wedding of Amelia's son. She has to take with her the children for she was unable to find someone to take care of them. She lost the children in a deserted place. She was arrested with unjust and got deported. In Japan, the police were looking for Yasujiro because they found out that the gun used in shooting is enlisted with under his name. They try to clarify it. 
So the chasing for answers was all about the existence of the rifle.
Babel was a little bit confusing in arranging the events in its actual scene. It shows that if you miss a glance to the scenes you will be confused onto the next scenes to what was happening already. Its one tactic of a multi narrative film to get the full attention of the viewers into the movie. The unleashing and revealing of events will show the interest of the viewers to continue watching the movie and attentively watching what will be the next scene. The movie was set at the same time but in different worlds. It shows that in one single thing we can be all connected to each other. Indeed, this is a small world full of mysteries. 

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

The Royal Tenenbaums is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. The film stars Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, Owen Wilson and Danny Glover.

It follows the lives of three gifted siblings who experience great success in youth, and even greater disappointment and failure after their eccentric father leaves them in their adolescent years. An ironic and absurdist sense of humor pervades the film.

• Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) – The father of the Tenenbaum siblings. Insensitive lawyer and a failure as a father. He is very proud of himself and forgets about the importance of a family and realization comes after. He is already old. Always wear a suit. Did some fancy things. A very naughty grandfather to his grandchildren. He always think about himself and does nothing but ruin his own family. They got divorced with his wife Etheline. After 22 years decided decided to reunite his family but it was risky and challenging to his part.

• Etheline Tenenbaum (Anjelica Huston) – She is the wife of Royal. A noted archaeologist and author, and the mother of the Tenenbaum children, who "makes their education her top priority." Later on, Ethel finds love with Henry Sherman, her accountant, the complete opposite of her estranged husband Royal.

Chas Tenenbaum (Ben Stiller) – A genius in international finance, Chas sued his father twice and had him disbarred because of the bonds his father stole from his safe deposit box when he was fourteen. His wife, Rachael Evans Tenenbaum, died in a plane crash and he has since become obsessed with the safety of his sons, Ari and Uzi (Grant Rosenmeyer and Jonah Meyerson). They have a beagle named Buckley.

Margot Tenenbaum (Gwyneth Paltrow) She was an acclaimed playwright and won a Pulitzer Prize in 9th grade. Margot once ran away from home for two weeks to meet her birth family and came back with half of one of her fingers missing. She is shown moping in her bathtub, watching television, ignoring her husband. She smokes, unbeknownst to anyone else in her family as she is infamously secretive.

Richie Tenenbaum (Luke Wilson) – A loving, loyal, and understanding son. He is a tennis prodigy, Richie is secretly in love with Margot. Unfortunately ends up his tennis career with a nervous breakdown on court in front of thousands of fans (the film implies the cause was the marriage of Margot and Raleigh the day before). As the film opens, he has been living on an ocean liner for several months. He always drinks Bloody Marys with pepper throughout the movie, so much so that he carries a capped pepper shaker in his jacket pocket. The character is loosely based on former champion Björn Borg, who shocked the tennis world by retiring at age 26, and wore the same style headband and trademark Fila polo.

Eli Cash (Owen Wilson) – A "friend of the family" since the children were very young, considered Richie's best friend, Eli has "always wanted to be a Tenenbaum." He gained success as an author of Western novels; his latest work presupposes the outcome if George Armstrong Custer had not died at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Eli has been having an affair with Margot and has a drug problem. Anderson has stated that Eli is based on the authors Cormac McCarthy and Jay McInerney.

• Henry Sherman (Danny Glover) – Ethel's accountant and romantic interest. He confronts Royal on his supposed stomach cancer with the family present, revealing that his wife had stomach cancer, and Royal does not show any of the symptoms.

• Raleigh St. Clair (Bill Murray) – Husband of Margot and a famous neurologist. Anderson has mentioned that St. Clair was based on Oliver Sacks. He is constantly accompanied by his adolescent test subject Dudley Heinsbergen (Stephen Lea Sheppard).

• Pagoda (Kumar Pallana) – Friend and servant to the family. He also acts as an informant for Royal to update him on his family. They met after Pagoda, an assassin in Kolkata, stabbed Royal. However, he subsequently earned his trust by carrying Royal on his back to the hospital.

• Dusty (Seymour Cassel) - Elevator operator at the Lindbergh Palace Hotel. A trusted friend of Royal, he helps deceive the Tenenbaum family about Royal's illness by pretending to be Dr. McClure. Later, he helps Royal get a job at the hotel.