Year: 2006
Filming: Color
Length: 117 minutes
Genre: Biography/Drama/History/Inspirational
Maturity: PG (for mild language and intense thematic
elements)
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd (William Wilberforce), Romola
Garai (Barbara Spooner), Benedict
Cumberbatch (William Pitt), Michael Gambon (Lord Charles Fox), Albert Finney (John Newton), Rufus Sewall
(Thomas Clarkson), Youssou
N’Dour (Olaudah Equiano), Ciaran Hinds (Lord Banastre Tarleton), Toby Jones
(Duke of Clarence), Bill Paterson (Lord Dundas), Nicholas
Farrell (Henry Thornton), Sylvestra le Touzel (Marianne Thornton), Jeremy Swift
(Richard the Butler)
Director: Michael Apted
Personal Rating: 5 Stars
***
There are pathetically few movies that are able to deal with
political/legal themes and still maintain a human touch that transcends the
specialist category. But one of them on the top of the list is Amazing Grace, a biopic of the man who
was instrumental in bringing an end to the British Slave Trade. As a period
piece, it excels for good taste, balance, and a keen ability to connect the
past with the present. As a story, it succeeds in intriguing, inspiring, and
warming hearts with hope for humankind.
Ioan Gruffudd
stars as William Wilberforce, an energetic young Member of Parliament, who
experiences a spiritual reawakening and becomes an Evangelical Christian.
Discerning whether or not he should withdraw from the world and peruse the
ministry, his friend William Pitt convince him to stay in politics by
connecting him with abolitionists seeking to put an end to the British slave
trade. Deciding to use his talents for the good of all, Wilberforce takes up
the challenge, but his participation in the controversy makes him increasingly
unpopular among powerful parliamentarians who have a vested interest in the
trade.
Working tirelessly to change the hearts and
minds of the British people and show them the great inhumanities of the trade,
Wilberforce makes allies with honest yet unkempt activist Thomas Clarkson, the
former-slave turned elegant man-of-means Olaudah Equiano, and even the
self-serving political survivor Lord Charles Fox. Together, they gather
thousands of signatures in favor of abolition to present before the parliament.
He also makes a point of impressing upon the powerful landed classes the plight
of those suffering under their very noses, bringing to light how African men,
woman, and children are made to endure a horrendous sea voyage and sold to
sugar plantations to be worked to death.
But in spite of
the evidence, many politicians such as Lord Dundas decide to play it safe and
refuse to vote for complete abolition. Even many of Wilberforce’s supporters
fail him by going to a comic opera instead of turning up to vote. When the
French Revolutionary Wars begin, Parliament shoves the issue on the back-burner,
and Wilberforce is accused of being unpatriotic. Disillusioned, he
considers resigning from his position in the government, and some of his
supporters adopt revolutionary sympathies. But then Wilberforce meets his
future-wife, Barbara Spooner, who encourages him to persevere in the face of
any and all obstacles. From that point on, he is a newly driven man.
This movie adroitly captures the
dangerous ebb and flow of the political world while at the same time
bringing out personal stories against the backdrop of epic historical events.
The characters are portrayed in a very human light, whether they are from the
upper or lower classes, pro-slavery or pro-abolition. The costuming and overall
setting is exquisite and manages to capture the right balance between realism
and flourish, accessibility and old-fashioned flare. We get to see fine dining
halls, charming country estates, stuffy parliament chambers, dingy city
streets, and bustling docks, getting a full-scaled panorama of 18th
century Britain. The music score is also top-notch (highly recommend you get
the CD!) which managed to bring out the flavor of both British and African
cultures, interweaving past and present instruments flawlessly.
Ioan Gruffud is at
his acting best in his portrayal as William Wilberforce. Like Sir Thomas More
in A Man for All Seasons, the
character is so full of depth and humanity he seems to literally come to life
through the actor depicting him, and by the end of the film, we can’t help but
be an admirer of him. After all, he’s an affable and intelligent young man with
a great career ahead of him, but he risks scuttling it in order to aid the
oppressed and nearly destroys himself physically and emotionally in the
process. He becomes a suffering soul, and a living martyr for those who have no
voice. Gruffudd captures all these things with great passion and grace.
Romola Garai makes
a wonderfully warm and witty Barbara Spooner, urging Wilberforce to come out of
his slump and return to the parliament floor. Her chemistry with Ioan Gruffudd
on screen is delightful, especially their desperate attempt to find something
to argue about in front of their match-making friends! One thing that bothered
me, however, was the low-cut neckline in the dresses she usually wore in the
production. I know that this could just be attributed to late 18th
- early 19th century fashion, but I just thought it was a
bit revealing and purposely seductive. It’s a Hollywood thing, but I must admit
I was hoping for better.
Rufus Sewall’s
portrayal of Thomas Clarkson is lovably bluff and scruffy, revealing a good
heart but also a dangerously passionate streak that threatens the whole
enterprise. He gets into confrontation with Wilberforce over how best to handle
their repeated defeats in parliament. Clarkson suggests that a revolution might
be their only hope, but Wilberforce forcefully reminds him that he has taken an
oath of loyalty to the king (who I do we wish would have made an appearance at
some point in the film!). Clarkson retorts that the king is insane, and that he
intends to go over to Paris to mingle with the revolutionaries. After several
moments of tense listening, Wilberforce cuts him off, and orders him never to
speak of revolution in his presence again.
This is such a
British moment in the film, because it exemplifies the realization Wilberforce experiences,
and that the British people throughout history have clung to, that they must
“hold back from the brink”; that needed changes can come through the due process of law, without shattering the
governmental structure. Indeed, the film-makers evidently understood the
importance of this project to the way people perceive the British People and
their history and culture, because they made sure that all the filming would be
done in Britain and that all the actors cast for the movie were British.
The other great
thing about Amazing Grace is the way that spiritual themes are handled without
being preachy. Wilberforce is a deeply religious man, and the virtue of this shines
through his actions and world view, but the script never reads like a
proselytizing pamphlet. It’s sincere; it’s real; it’s naturally moving. I love
the way he is portrayed as praying simply and openly, and the motif of the
spider web symbolizing his love of The Creator and all His Creation. This point
is also brought to the fore when he gets out of his carriage on a rainy night
to stop a man from beating his horse, and the man listens to him because name
of Wilberforce has now come to be respected by many as a symbol of principle.
Getting to see Ciarin
Hinds portray Banastre Tarleton in his post-revolutionary years was quite a
treat. I must admit it took me a few minutes to make the connection between the
pro-slavery MP and “Bloody Ban” of wartime infamy. But when he held up his hand
to reveal missing fingers that he had lost fighting with the American rebels,
it suddenly dawned on me, and I yelped, “It’s Ban!!” Nice to see him depicted
as a well-rounded character, instead of the over-the-top villain in The Patriot. And at least this sets the
record straight that he didn’t get impaled by Mel Gibson, but moved on to
greener pastures in career as a consistent un-huggable.
There are a few
other moments in the film that hearken back to the American Revolution. One is
when Wilberforce speaks out in favor of ending the war and making peace the
rebels. It is often forgotten that there was a whole movement within British
parliament opposing the taxes levied in America and seeking to give her representation
in the mother country. When things began to look increasingly hopeless about politically
reuniting, they urged a swifter peace to avoid further bloodshed. Another
interesting moment in the film is when a legless beggar crawls over to
Wilberforce in the street, saying that he “lost his legs fighting the Yankee
rebels”. I wonder how often people ever think about the human cost of that war
for Britain, and the social aftermath of it on both sides…
Benedict
Cumberbatch makes a wonderfully erudite and elegant William Pitt. One
particularly good line is when Wilberforce exclaims that it is next to
impossible for Pitt to become prime minister in his 20’s, to which he responds,
“We’re too young to realize certain things are impossible, which is why we will
do them anyway.” In reality, Wilberforce was never able to visit Pitt’s
deathbed as shown in Amazing Grace,
and they were actually somewhat estranged over some political differences at
the time. But the portrayal of their friendship is touching nonetheless, and in
reality, Wilberforce always seems to have treasured the memory of it.
I’ll admit that
Albert Finney as John Newton looks rather different than I pictured him and
that his portraits portray him, and I do sort of wish the film focused a bit
more on his personal experiences since he is the one who wrote the title song!
But he still does serve as a powerful example of the older generation passing
on the mantle to the young, with his impassioned exhortation to “blast the
slavers out of the water”. It is also deeply moving when he weeps and wonders
if all the people he sold into slavery had names, and supposes that they must
have been “good African names.”
In connection
with that, Youssou N’Dour as Olaudah Equiano puts a face and a voice to the
millions of unnamed victims of the slave trade, whose lives were cruelly misused
and cut short by the greed of others. Although Equiano pours himself out in the
abolitionist cause, he tragically does live to see it succeed. Nevertheless,
Thomas Clarkson does visit to grave when abolition is on the brink of passing,
tells him the good news, and “shares a bottles” with him, drinking some and
pouring the rest into the ground.
One of the ironic
inaccuracies of the movie had to do with the fact that
the traditional tune of "Amazing Grace" is believe to have been
added to Newton’s hymn at a much later date than the events depicted in the
film. In spite of this, Wilberforce is shown singing the hymn to this tune
and having it played at his wedding! While on the subject, it must be
noted with some pain that, unlike the real Mr. Wilberforce who was said to have
a glorious voice, Ioan Gruffudd really can’t hold a tune, and it shows when he
stand up on that table belts out the beloved hymn before the unsympathetic
throng! Oh, well. Chalk it up to good intentions gone awry?
The finale is
always a tear-jerker, when the trade is finally abolished and Wilberforce, struggling
to contain his emotion, is given a round of applause. He exchanges a knowing
look with his beloved wife in the balcony, realizing that without her, he may
never have seen the cause to completion. The end credits are set against a
rousing rendition of “Amazing Grace” played by a military pipe and drum band,
and we get to see the kilted players lined up in rows outside Westminster
Abbey, where both William Wilberforce and William Pitt are buried. I mean, how
British can you get?
Thinking about the
injustice of the Slave Trade and how difficult it was to end, I cannot help but
make a comparison to the ultimate injustice of our own era: Abortion. While it
may be hard to visualize it being abolished now, perhaps a generation or so
hence, we shall look back on the killing of the unborn with the same horror as
we now look back on the buying and selling of slaves. What we really must pray
for is that we may be given more leaders like Wilberforce and his associates to
bear the pressure of an unsympathetic society and see the cause through. That
is why stories like this one really must be told, and heroes like Wilberforce
must be remembered. That is why I am so grateful this movie was made and is
able to communicate his story in our modern era. It stands as proof that faith
and endurance can overcome the most strident opposition. It is a manifestation
of truly amazing grace.
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| William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) address the House of Commons |
