Every Screenwriter Should Know This

A video essay on the most perfectly written and delivered movie speech of all time and why I hold it in such high regard. A video about the ancient art of classical rhetoric and how it is primordial for the creation a truly memorable, persuasive, emotional and beautiful text.
The film is "Amistad" (1997), directed by Steven Spielberg and written by David Franzoni, who proved here he's an extraordinary writer. Before the Supreme Court, former U.S. President John Quincy Adams (Anthony Hopkins) makes a passionate and verbally extraordinary defence of Cinque and prisoners of the Amistad, free African men who were kidnapped and sold into slavery.
You can find the real John Quincy Adams speech for the Amistad case online. It's 108 pages long and it lasted four hours.
In this video I'll go through the 5 Canons of Rhetoric (Invention, Arrangement, Style, Memory and Delivery) and a slew of rhetorical devices. We'll witness this speech's complete mastery of each rhetorical subject.
A couple notes: in classical arrangement Confirmatio usually comes before Refutatio instead of after, as was done in this speech. Arrangement also gives another part to the speech called Partitio, which is when you state what will be your arguments throughout the speech. That sounds rather expositional and not very cinematic (spoiling your own scene?), so it makes complete sense to not have it in a movie speech.
Here are some of the books I used as references when writing this video. I recommend them all for those interested in the study of this priceless subject that is rhetoric:
- "How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion" by Cicero and James M. May
- "A Handlist of Rhetorical Terms" by Richard A. Lanham
- "Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric" by Ward Farnsworth
- "The Elements of Eloquence" by Mark Forsyth
- "On Rhetoric" by Aristotle
- "Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of Persuasion" by Jay Heinrichs
This last book here with the catchy title. You won't believe who the author claims inspired him to study rhetoric!
I split the video into the parts of the speech (Arrangement) but make sure to catch up on the other canons and multiple devices:
00:00 Movie Speeches
00:32 Amistad
02:28 Exordium
03:04 Narratio
06:03 Refutatio
09:11 Confirmatio
12:45 Peroratio
I was editing the video when I found out "southern" is pronounced ˈsʌðɚn and not - as one would damn well expect - ˈsaʊðɚn. Damn you, English! Make sense! I couldn't be bothered to rerecord though.
#videoessay #screenwriting #filmmaking #anthonyhopkins
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[@bimblebee]

Moviewise know words good

[@GaudiaCertaminisGaming]

He got a purdy mouth.

[@gilad1908]

As a writer (i suspect) should

[@JohnMoseley]

He knows them a lot better than a lot of the native English speakers doing otherwise intellectual content on KZbin. It's really sad. Never mind rhetoric, they seem not to have even learned basic grammar and syntax in school.

[@matm4331]

Thank you for finding cinema's diamonds in the places most of us are not looking!

[@JohnMoseley]

This has arrived just at the right moment to accompany me restringing my guitar.

[@petergivenbless900]

One of the things I find particularly striking about 'Amistad' is how restrained Spielberg is in his camerawork; while his placement, blocking and framing are typically economic and expressive, the camera itself rarely moves (limited to tilts and pans etc.). But we are given a few dolly shots; during a conversation between Cinque and Adams, where the camera pushes in as Cinque describes calling upon his ancestors in times of strife, and in the courtroom speech when Adams does the same.

[@Moviewise]

I had to fight the urge to point out how when Adams rips the Executive Review he takes a couple steps forward. It wouldn’t make much difference to the Justices based on their distance to him, so what he’s doing is approaching the camera to make the action appear bigger for us. It’s discreet and it substitutes a camera movement.

[@petergivenbless900]

@@Moviewise yes, it's Spielberg at his most economic (the longest shot in 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' is a static shot of Roy Neary, on the phone to Ronnie, in his livingroom; the action takes Roy from low-angle close-up to wide, as he walks back and forth, all the while maintaining a composition dominated by the model of the Devil's Tower in the middle of the room, and a TV set in foreground left), I would need to rewatch 'Amistad' but I am pretty sure the only other dolly shot in the entire film, aside from the ones I mentioned that link Adams' speech back to his conversation with Cinque, is a lateral tracking shot revealing the row of Judges at the start of Adams' courtroom scene.

[@Shah-of-the-Shinebox]

I saw Amistad once years ago. Thanks to Moviewise, i will have to revisit it. Thanks again Wise One for making friday great!!!

[@gelchert]

Bonus point for Anthony Hopkins delivering this entire brilliant speech in the first take. Granted, his stage background probably helped with that, but compare that to America Ferrera bragging about how she used dozens of takes to get her much shorter and far inferior speech in _Barbie_ just right.

[@davidunderwood1773]

With much more complex blocking and movement as well.

[@Kevin_Street]

It's an incredible performance. This is one of those movies where everyone involved was already legendary, so I guess they knew the movie had to be the best they could make it. This is swinging for the fences stuff.

[@MrBenaud]

"Who we are is who we were", standing next to a bust of his father. I remember being aware of the manipulation when I watched this film, but loving it and wanting more! As you say: chills.

[@andrewgreenshoe]

Can you handle the ultimate compliment? Hope so. Genius!

[@Julian97MetalFighter]

Your videos on rethoric are one of best out there

[@Kevin_Street]

Wow. I remember watching Amistad in the theater, and everything in the movie built up to that speech. It was a tremendous release of the tension that had been building and building up to that point in the film. When John Quincy Adams stands up you _know_ he's going to be amazing, and the film actually delivers on that expectation. You explain how it works incredibly well.

[@PerfectHandProductions]

I think of the "The World is a Business" speech from Network.

[@videovuer]

A truly great video about truly great movie making about the elements of truly great storytelling!!!

[@matfresco]

2nd - sitting at the feet of the master, thanks MovieWise

[@hassanbasire19]

I just love the way you speak

[@nicolasbelloni484]

Thanks for teaching us with every video!

[@OfekMazor]

I fucking love you mr. Moviewise❤

[@bearcb]

I usually save videos from this channel in a playlist of mine called Cinema. This one goes to another: Education

[@madmartigan21]

4:10 Similes are a TYPE of metaphor. All similes are metaphors but not all metaphors are similes. Much like all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.

[@peterkalyabe7553]

I have visited this speech several times because it is so good. Thank you for this 'scientific explanation'.

[@N_Loco_Parenthesis]

Still waiting on that Genius of Powell & Pressburger essay, Wiseman.

[@geoffhoutman1557]

Just like Agincourt- BRING ON THE ARCHERS!

[@MacRome61]

Thank you for teaching us to be „aware movie buffs“!

[@BMeneau]

Amistad went a bit under the radar, because it was followed by SPR. It has great stuff in it though. The Middle Passage Sequence, the eloquent screenplay, teh performances, the beautiful camerawork, John Williams' great score... It also makes a great companion piece to Lincoln

[@thesoundofonemanlaughing]

I have not seen this one, as "earnest" Spielberg isn't my favorite, but after "The Father," I think I will give something with Hopkins a watch without any arm-twisting. 👌

[@user-pj3vj3lv7y]

Can't tell you how happy I am seeing a new video on speech because I rewatch JFK many times this week (which is thanks to you, too, I put off watching it for so long). Thank you wholeheartedly, Mr. Moviewise. edit: Also, I usually watch your videos with a notebook and a pen.

[@Zed-fq3lj]

extraordinary video, thx man!

[@rosiecarter7146]

More please!

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Absolutely BRILLIANT!

[@therealinformalmusic]

It is worth noting, I submit, that John Quincy Adam’s original complete speech, available online, is itself a model of rhetorical skill.

[@mashaikh52]

Bravo. Much to learn about the art of movie making

[@deborahrose8621]

Amazing

[@leohouses]

if you haven’t check out the film La Chimera, it’s one of the best i’ve seen in recent memory!

[@frankyan3943]

What an underrated film. In every way the prequel for his later masterpiece Lincoln

[@mercurialhypersprite9556]

I feel like it WOULD BE INSULTING calling you the G.O.A.T. Because it should be OBVIOUS. Keep at it my G! YES. Writer's should learn rhetoric. You, magnificent, bastard.

[@uchil3916]

it's like... he has the BEST words

[@ulaznar]

You forgot to thank yourself for teaching us 😅

[@bluehorizon9547]

Please make analysis of Park Chang Wook. His movies are insane: Oldboy, Handmaiden, Thirst, Decision to leave....

[@biffstrong1079]

I'm a big fan of the Howard Rourke speech on the individual versus the collective in the The Fountainhead. It is Ayn Rand, but still I thought a very good speech. Liked Jimmy Stewart in Anatomy of a Murder. Lot of detailed talk explaining process and how the law works. Boring I know. Spartacus has a nice set of little speeches that establish each character. Olivier, Ustinov and Laughton all get their moments. Gorky Park has fewer speeches but just great pithy lines and characters. " Corpses their faces cut off, murdered and frozen in Gorky Park. Maybe Major Pabluda this is a job for KGB." "Someday Renko this could be you." Or " You know the KGB have better cars. " Yes But they don't always take you where you want to go, do they? " Big Chill Ghandi , Ben Kingsley, got a nice speech in court in South Africa, which nicely outlined a regime where Passive resistance simply wasn't going to work. Oh and Breaker Morant was a courtroom drama with a constant argument about committing murder during the Boer war. casablanca lot of great dialogue. I guess its less speechy.

[@hemanthkarri107]

beautiful essay. can you please recommend some books that you used to study rhetoric?

[@Moviewise]

Check the description ;)

[@hemanthkarri107]

@@Moviewise thank you friend

[@gdvanc]

​@@Moviewise I read the Forsyth book recently and it exposed a gaping hole in my education. When you popped "RHETORIC" across the screen, it was time for popcorn.

[@tom-vj9lz]

The next video should be about the 1972 mastery that is something evil by the great Steve. A movie so great it never appears on any of those ""EVERY" Steveven Spielberg movies ranked" videos.

[@AugustGallmeyer1998]

what are you talking about?

[@tom-vj9lz]

​@@AugustGallmeyer1998 that's the point

[@Alsrdi5]

To think after all that I'm going to watch the movie subbed in another language

[@tejasambhore8046]

Can I have the name of the book?

[@dattebenforcer]

Team America: World Police had a better speech.

[@maximilianobarrionuevo9746]

Talk about Andrei Tarkovsky!

[@madmartigan21]

Anthony Hopkins never changes the emotional level of his delivery. I disagree that this is even a good movie speech.

[@seamotine]

While I love this channel and this movie, I have to disagree. The Braveheart ‘they may take our lives’ speech stands alone. Honourable mention for the Rocky IV speech which brought down the Berlin Wall, quite the days work.

[@N_Loco_Parenthesis]

See more movies.

[@tr7938]

Too bad McConnahy was in this movie. He's tiresome and overrated like so many of them....

[@forecheckbackcheckpaycheck]

Ok I low-key get nervous when Moviewise don't get enough views. This is one of only 25 channels I follow, so commenting and liking on this. Keep em coming big man, you're giving us gold, gold I tell ya!