MAYA ANGELOU opens this moviebook with truth. The answer to why our story must be retold over and over again. The shocking truth that a black man's skin could be cut into a postage stamp size flap and sold as souvenirs by his racist white murderers. The generational truth that Cinque's remarkable, chilling story lives on beyond the relic flap of that lynching. America today is the reason AMISTAD must live another generation in hopes that we try to do better.
In the palpable words of Debbie Allen, the inhumanity of slavery in America was put on trial. When Joseph Cinque courageously and unselfishly challenged America's Declaration of Independence, its Constitution, its President of the United States, its abolitionists, its Supreme Court, and the Queen of Spain, the entire world watched. The truth about America's slave system was revealed. That truth must continue to be discussed and explored and remembered from one generation to the next. AMISTAD, therefore, should never die on a bookshelf or in history. AMISTAD forces Joseph Cinque's story into eternity. The pictures and quotes in this fine moviebook should continue to shame and inspire all of us today to paint a better existence for all mankind.
Ask a man of extraordinary intellectual power who is equally creative such as Steven Spielberg to define "truth" and he will show you it in living color page after page, clip after clip. You will beg to discover it over and over again because AMISTAD commands that type of loyalty to tell our story repeatedly to our children, black and white. Readers will gain a different perspective on "Give Us Free" each time. You will cry your own script to the young and help keep Cinque's purpose alive to make life better. The truth not only sets us all free, it keeps us free. AMISTAD is indeed truth.
The post list of additional reading resources about Amistad for both the young and the old are an integral part of this masterpiece.
Reviewed by Swaggie Coleman
for The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Add to book club
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club?
Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Flip to back
Flip to front
Amistad: 'Give Us Free' (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks) Hardcover – June 15, 1999
by
Steven Spielberg
(Author),
Maya Angelou
(Author)
-
Print length128 pages
-
LanguageEnglish
-
PublisherNewmarket Press
-
Publication dateJune 15, 1999
-
Dimensions9 x 0.5 x 11.5 inches
-
ISBN-101557043515
-
ISBN-13978-1557043511
Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
-
Apple
-
Android
-
Windows Phone
-
Android
|
Download to your computer
|
Kindle Cloud Reader
|
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Scores of photographs, storyboard illustrations, and historical documents illuminate the making of the Spielberg film about the slave-ship mutiny and trial that helped ignite the Civil War. Also included are essays by the director, poet Maya Angelou, and actress/choreographer/producer Debbie Allen.
From School Library Journal
YA-This book will appeal primarily to YAs interested in film study because of its excellent background on the casting, producing, and shooting of Amistad. Students of history will also be interested because of the additional information on the insurrection itself. The large, eye-catching photographs draw readers to the emotional essays of Maya Angelou, Steven Spielberg, and Debbie Allen, who had the idea for the film. Her desire to bring the story to the screen led her to Spielberg because she believed he was the one director who could bring a story of this nature to fruition. Despite the film's somewhat diminished success, this book will cause many readers to question how much more of our country's history has been kept hidden.
William Byrd, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
William Byrd, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
For me, the story of Cinque and his heroism brought light into a time of great darkness: my childhood...I remembered and I had hope. -- Maya Angelou
About the Author
Steven Spielberg (Introduction)
The renowned director and producer of Schindler's List has also directed, among other acclaimed films, Lincoln, War Horse, Saving Private Ryan, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Amistad, and Jaws. He established the Shoah Foundation in 1994, inspired by his experience while filming Schindler's List.
Product details
- Publisher : Newmarket Press; English Language edition (June 15, 1999)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 128 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1557043515
- ISBN-13 : 978-1557043511
- Item Weight : 1.65 pounds
- Dimensions : 9 x 0.5 x 11.5 inches
-
Best Sellers Rank:
#7,009,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15,843 in TV, Movie & Game Tie-In Fiction
- #24,088 in African American Demographic Studies (Books)
- #34,915 in Arts & Photography Criticism
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
6 global ratings
How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.
Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2008
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2002
Just like his film on it, Steven Spielberg's work on this book, "Amistad: 'Give Us Free'", was well-executed. It reminds one of Alex Haley's "Roots". Both stir emotions. Every bit of the story shows how cruel a man can be to his fellow man. And, I disagree with all those who term this true story "a story of illegally enslaved Africans", (Mr Spielberg didn't). We are shying away from the truth, which is that no African, (not even one), was a legal slave. There is nothing that made one slave legal, and the other illegal. There is no legality in slavery. Absolutely! That treacherous and heartless people overpowered, kidnapped, and transported, (in the most inhumane manner), their fellow human beings to America and other places does not, in any way, make those victims of inhumanity "legal slaves". Regardless of all the face-saving tales that those who defiled our lands with the innocent blood, tears, and sweat of millions of Africans will like us to believe, the truth is that not even a single African volunteered to become a slave in any circumstance. They were all forced into it: with no option but death. Those who ripped and enjoyed the bloodied fruits of slavery merely sought cheap excuses in order to justify what they did. But we know that there is nothing legal in kidnapping and subjecting human beings to such a horrible condition.
'La Amistad' tells a soul-eroding story. Cinque and his cohorts are true heroes. They are heroes of freedom, heroes of justice, and heroes of human rights. Songs have been composed about them. Books have been written about them. Films have been made about them. And, history will forever appreciate their gallantry.
'La Amistad' tells a soul-eroding story. Cinque and his cohorts are true heroes. They are heroes of freedom, heroes of justice, and heroes of human rights. Songs have been composed about them. Books have been written about them. Films have been made about them. And, history will forever appreciate their gallantry.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2000
Put yourself in the shoes of the victims of slavery. Allow yourself to really, really feel what it would be like to have every aspect of your culture, values, language stripped from you. Imagine having to sit by while someone rapes your wife, mother, 11 year old daughter. Imagine having to eat an animal which you have been taught is poison. Imagine not having freedom to marry and having to watch your baby being driven away in a wagon, never being seen again, because one man has taken it upon himself the right to sell another. Sit there, close your eyes and then you will be brought into a deeper understanding of the people of the Amistad.
2 people found this helpful
Report abuse
Pages with related products.
See and discover other items: science fiction film theory
