The Morgan Freeman movie “people just didn’t want to see”
The list of Morgan Freeman’s cinematic accomplishments is seemingly endless, and one simply cannot discuss American film history without his name coming into conversation. Having given several performances of a genuinely commanding quality, Freeman is one of Hollywood’s all-time heroes.
From his pimp character in Street Smart to his heartbreaking mentor Red in The Shawshank Redemption and from his Unforgiven reluctant outlaw to the portrayal of Nelson Mandela in Invictus, Freeman has consistently epitomised acting brilliance and has become one of the most revered actors of his generation in the process.
However, while there have indeed been countless productions that have seen huge audiences flock to the cinema to catch Freeman on screen, the actor once pointed out one movie from his back catalogue that no one seemed to want to see despite it being a film of genuine importance.
Discussing Steven Spielberg’s 1997 historical drama Amistad, Freeman once told EW, “Steven Spielberg is an incredibly efficient filmmaker. I think he knows in his gut how to make a film. But Amistad was a huge disappointment at the box office. [Slavery] is subject matter that Americans don’t want to confront. Americans relate to it the way Germans relate to the Holocaust. So people just didn’t want to see it.”
Spielberg’s Amistad tells the true story of the revolt that took place in 1839 aboard the slave ship La Amistad. Djimon Hounsou plays Cinque, a Mende tribesman who leads a rebellion against the Spanish who capture him as part of the slave industry, which leads to a battle for freedom in the United States.
With further performances from the likes of Freeman, Anthony Hopkins and Matthew McConaughey, and some truly mesmerising cinematography, Amistad is an important piece of cinema that dives into the complex legal issues of the 19th century while examining the oppression of the African people.
The Hollywood Foreign Press once interviewed Freeman about Amistad at the Golden Globes in 1997 and noted, “I feel that this story has great importance to us as Americans, on its own merits. It’s a moment in history that has largely been buried in time and is very enlightening to us on a lot of levels. So, I have a great amount of self-satisfaction in being part of this project, and probably more so as a Black American.”
“I don’t think this movie is about the history of slavery, it merely deals with one issue in the era of slavery as a prism, but it does shed light on a very important moment in American history concerning the issue of slavery,” Freeman added. “It was quite a daring thing that happened, quite challenging for the courts if they were going to consider anything other than the law.”
Check out the trailer for Amistad below.
