HBO has produced a very good period film on the life of John Adams, the 2nd President of the fledgling United States - then a collection of British colonies.
Adam's is not remembered as well as Washington; but one of his great acts was to negotiate a peace treaty with France - whose privateer warships were attacking American merchant ships. The nation wanted war. But though he pushed for a strong navy - he preferred negotiation. Why shed blood when you can use ink to stain paper and get the same result? People called him a coward - a traitor - but he saw as folly waging war against another Great Power after having narrowly defeating Britain.
Interestingly, he was the defense lawyer for a group of British soldiers who shot a civilian crowd - known as the Boston Massacre. In this scene, he has asked his wife, Abigail, to read his closing statement. Its brilliant.
I love how his wife says: "Vanity. You have overburden your argument with ostentatious erudition. You do not need to quote great men, to show you are one."
Magnificent. That's one of the best bedroom scenes I've seen... :)
To buy the DVD - go here to amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/John-Adams-Miniseries-Paul-Giamatti/dp/B000WGWQG8
2 comments:
Great acting!
yes I thought they did a brilliant job - without subjecting the historical characters to (too much) anachronistic behavior and attitudes.
Post a Comment