Amazing Grace (2006 film)

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Amazing Grace

Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by Michael Apted
Written by Steven Knight
Music by David Arnold
Cinematography Remi Adefarasin
Editing by Rick Shaine
Distributed by IDP, Samuel Goldwyn Films
Release date(s) September 16, 2006 (premiere)
February 23, 2007(USA)
March 23, 2007 (UK)
Running time 111 minutes
IMDb profile

Amazing Grace is a 2007 film directed by Michael Apted about the campaign against the slave trade in 19th century Britain, led by famous abolitionist William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the film also recounts John Newton's writing of the hymn.

The tag line (in US publicity material) is "Behind the song you love is a story you will never forget."

The film starred Ioan Gruffudd as William Wilberforce, Albert Finney as John Newton, Rufus Sewell as Thomas Clarkson, Youssou N'Dour as Olaudah Equiano, Benedict Cumberbatch as Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger, Romola Garai as Barbara Spooner, the woman William Wilberforce married, Nick Thomas-Webster as a Member of Parliament and Ciarán Hinds as Sir Banastre Tarleton, one of Wilberforce's chief opponents in the House of Commons.

Richard Bailey and Michael Gambon also star in the Bristol Bay Productions feature.

The film premiered at the closing of the Toronto Film Festival on September 16, 2006 and its US premiere was at the opening of the Heartland Film Festival, Indianapolis, Indiana on October 19, 2006, after which director Michael Apted participated in a question and answer session. It also was screened as the centrepiece of the annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.[1]

The film's wider release was on February 23, 2007 through IDP and Samuel Goldwyn Films,[2] coinciding with the 200th anniversary of the date the British parliament voted to ban the slave trade.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film begins with Wilberforce severely ill and taking a holiday in Bath, Somerset, with his cousin, Henry Thornton. It is here that he is introduced to his future wife, Barbara Spooner. Although he at first resists, she convinces him to tell her about his life. The story flashes back ten years to 1787, and William recounts the events that led him to where he is now. Beginning as an ambitious and popular MP, William was persuaded by his friend William Pitt, Thomas Clarkson, Hannah More and others to take on the dangerous issue of the British slave trade which led him to become highly unpopular in the House of Commons amongst the Members of Parliament representing vested interests of the trade in the cities of London, Bristol and Liverpool.

Exhausted, and frustrated that he was unable to change anything in the government, William becomes physically ill, which brings the story back into present day. Having virtually given up hope, William considers leaving politics forever. Barbara convinces him to keep fighting because if he does not, no one else is capable of doing so. A few days afterward, William and Barbara marry; and William, with a renewed hope for success, picks up the fight where he had previously left off, aided by Thornton, Clarkson and James Stephen. In time, after many attempts to bring legislation forward over twenty years, he is eventually responsible for a bill being passed through Parliament in 1807, which abolishes the slave trade in the British empire forever.

[edit] Locations

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A number of locations were used in the shooting of the film.

Bakers Quay, which forms part of the Gloucester docks on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, was used as a backdrop against which to recreate the atmosphere of the East India Docks in London circa 1780. Shooting took place during October 2005 and involved the tall ships, Kaskelot, Earl of Pembroke and Phoenix.[3]

[edit] Response

As of March 23, the website Rotten Tomatoes amassed a total of 93 reviews for the film, 73% of which were positive (or "fresh"). According to the website, the film is "your quintessential historical biopic: stately, noble, and with plenty of electrifying performances."[4]

According to the Internet Movie Database, the film has been received very well by viewers. The film has received a User Rating of 7.9 out of 10, based on 1,385 votes so far.

[edit] Criticisms

Amazing Grace has also met with criticism for portraying blacks as passive and incapable of participating in their own emancipation.[5] As well, despite being a film about the slave trade, it featured few black characters, and did not explore slavery from the black perspective. When questioned about these issues and his casting of black actors in the film, Apted has explained that he did not set out to make another film such as Amistad or Roots, but to explore the parliamentary legislative battle from the point of view of Wilberforce and the other anti-slavery campaigners in Britain.

[edit] Box office

According to the website Box Office Mojo, the film brought in a little over $4 million at the box office over the weekend of February 23-25, placing it as the tenth highest grossing film for the weekend, behind such new releases as The Astronaut Farmer and The Number 23.

The film has grossed an estimated $15.3 million as of March 22, 2007, according to Box Office Mojo. This puts it ahead of such other historical-themed films, such as the Clint Eastwood film Letters from Iwo Jima.[citation needed]

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sneider, Jeff. Santa Barbara announces lineup, Variety, January 4, 2007.
  2. ^ Release date of Amazing Grace from BoxOfficeMojo.com
  3. ^ Full details of the filiming can be found at Gloucester Docks and the Sharpness Canal website - Filming "Amazing Grace" and details of the ships used at Square Sail on the Canal.
  4. ^ Amazing Grace (2007) at Rottentomatoes.com
  5. ^ CNN Coverage, March 23, 2007.

[edit] External links

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