May 7, 2014 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 23 Spielberg’s ‘Amistad’ is gripping tale of inhumanity by Dennis Seuling “Amistad” (Paramount) is Steven Spiel- berg’s cinematic account of the French ship Amistad and a mutiny incited by the slaves it was transporting. When the ship reaches America after weeks of shaky navigation, the slaves responsible for the mutiny, led by Cinque (Djimon Hounsou), are put on trial for murder. They are defended by a young lawyer named Baldwin (Matthew McCo- naughey). Former President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) joins the effort to free the slaves and encourage abolition as tensions brew nationwide with the Civil War looming. Scenes aboard the ship are harrow- ing, comparable in intensity to those of Spielberg’s Holocaust feature, “Schindler’s List.” In “Amistad,” the director brings to the screen a little-known footnote in the history of slavery in America. The story- telling technique is fairly routine. View- ers see the plot unfold through the eyes of the idealistic Baldwin, who a century later might have been the lead character in a John Grisham courtroom novel. The film is filled with courtroom histrionics from Martin Van Buren (Nigel Hawthorne) and Senator John C. Calhoun (Arliss Howard). These talky passages are reminiscent of Spielberg’s “Lincoln.” The most gripping part of the film is its depiction of the “Middle Passage,” the slave ship’s journey across the Atlantic to convey its human cargo from Africa to North Djimon Hounsou stars as Cinque in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Amistad.’ America. These scenes are raw, grim, and difficult to watch. Their realism contrasts markedly with the theatricality of the rest of the picture. Hounsou is the real star of the film. His expressive face and sensitive portrayal con- nect the viewer to the plight of the anony- mous Africans who had the misfortune to be on that ship. The film is an engrossing companion piece to the recent “12 Years a Slave” since together they provide an overview of a sad aspect of this country’s history. The only bonus on this new-to-Blu-ray release is a making-of featurette. “The Bridges of Madison County” (Warner Home Video) is adapted from Robert James Waller’s popular novel about a chance meeting that leads unexpectedly to romance. Clint Eastwood plays National Geographic photographer Robert Kincaid on assignment taking pictures of covered bridges in Iowa. He wanders onto the farm of Francesca Johnson (Meryl Streep), a woman whose family is away. Francesca is an Italian who married an American soldier, relocated to the United States, and raised a family without ever really feeling fulfilled or realizing she wasn’t. Kincaid changes that. The movie avoids the novel’s florid style and Eastwood in a romantic role is an inter- esting change of pace, if not an entirely successful. It is hard to accept the fire that is supposedly ignited between the two. There always seems to be a polite distance between them despite their transition from caution to abandon. Bonus features on the Blu-ray release include audio commentary, the music video “Doe Eyes,” and a behind- the-scenes making-of short. “Mr. Jones” (Anchor Bay) borrows the “found footage” structure of recent horror films. Scott (Jon Foster) and Penny (Sarah Jones) have just moved to a remote cabin to escape the pressures of the world and focus on their art. They soon discover they are not really alone. A reclusive artist known only as Mr. Jones (Mark Steger) lives nearby. He does not like being disturbed and comes out only at night, when he drags his odd, sinister-looking sculptures deep into the woods. Fascinated, the couple decides to learn more about their mysterious neighbor. When their curiosity leads them too close for Mr. Jones’ comfort, they are drawn into a nightmare world of mayhem, madness, and terror. This is the kind of movie where the characters make all the wrong decisions, leading them down a clichéd path of horror. It is hard to sympathize with dopey people. After seeing the weird interior of Mr. Jones’ house and witnessing his bizarre behavior, Scott still leaves Penny alone and goes to (continued on Crossword page)