Amistad
Freedom is not given. It is our right at birth. But there are moments when it must be taken.
Country
Production
Budget
$36 000 000
Revenue
$44 229 441
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Steven Spielberg, Colin Wilson, Debbie Allen, Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
Operator
Composer
Artist
Audition
Victoria Thomas, Tere López
Editing
Short description
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.
What's left behind the scenes
- Anthony Hopkins astonished the entire film crew by flawlessly performing the delivery of a speech in the courtroom (which spanned seven pages in the script) on his very first take. The film's director and producer, Steven Spielberg, was so impressed by this that he stopped addressing the actor by the name “Tony” and began calling him exclusively “Sir Anthony”.
- Among those considered for the roles were renowned actors from world cinema: the Scottish Sean Connery did not get the role of President Adams (it was taken by the Englishman Hopkins), and Cuba Gooding Jr. was considered for the role of Cinqué.
- Perhaps the actors vying for the role of Cinqué were confused by Spielberg's requirement to voice the role only in the Mende language. Throughout the entire role, this character speaks only six English words.
- Before the film's release, writer Barbara Chase-Riboud sued Spielberg, accusing him of basing his film on her novel 'Echo of Lions,' published in Italy. Spielberg's studio won the lawsuit.
- In the town of Mystic, on the banks of the river of the same name, stands the America & Sea Museum. A replica of the ship 'Amistad' was built there, and some scenes were filmed there as well, particularly the scene in which the lawyer for the defendants finds an interpreter.
- This was the first film directed by Spielberg at the DreamWorks SKG studio, where he was a co-owner and co-founder.
- Initially, Denzel Washington was considered for the role of Cinqué, but the actor ultimately declined.
- The schooner 'Amistad' was played by the Baltimore clipper 'Pride of Baltimore'.
- The rights to adapt Owen's book were acquired back in 1984, but future producer Debbie Allen suggested Spielberg direct after filming 'Schindler's List'.
- Joseph Cinqué's real name was Sengbe Pieh.
- The opening scene, in which armed slaves fight back against the ship's crew, was cut for Jamaican cinemas. This was because the majority of Jamaicans are descendants of slaves from West Africa, and such a violent scene could 'offend the memory of their ancestors'.
- Anthony Hopkins stunned the entire crew by flawlessly delivering the courtroom speech (which spanned seven pages of the script) in a single take. The film's director and producer, Steven Spielberg, was so impressed that from that moment on, he stopped calling the actor 'Tony' and referred to him exclusively as 'Sir Anthony'.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
