Luke
stu-kicks
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoAmazing Grace
November 5th 2007 10:27
Just a short-ish review today before I strap on my rocket pack and fly off to groovetown...
It's being called the feel good sleeper movie of the year, one of those good-vibes dramas that grows in popularity as buzz gets generated mostly by word of mouth. Apparently even Oprah is championing the film now. What an amazing surprise that is... Oprah imploring everyone to go and see a movie about the enslavement of Africa. Let me put this out there, I have no problems with the movie 'Amazing Grace' or people endorsing it, but why is it that a hundred or more superior or equal British films about important historical events have come and gone without Oprah giving a shit? I hate how Oprah uses her influence to wheedle her own political passions into the 'must-see' lists of housewives around the world, and how Oprah assumes that African slavery is the Most Important Issue of All Time for Everyone on the Whole Planet. Anyway, moving on...
'Amazing Grace' is the story of William WIlberforce, a 17th century English politician who relentlessly campaigned for the abolition of slavery within the British Empire. The structure of he film flits between the two stages of his life spent fighting against this injustice. At first it jars a little but eventually it makes dramatic sense, and Ioan Gruffudd (as consistent and underrated as ever) gives the film an appropriate sense of scale without going over the top. The film itself also manages to treat the subject with a dignity that many American films fail to grasp, opting to focus on the details and characters rather than sensationalising the African plight or presenting the issues of the day anarchronistically, and - most importantly - avoiding the boredom factor (something Steven Spielberg's 'Amistad' failed to do).
An array of familiar British character actors (Michael Cambon, Rufus Sewell) add a suitable amount of colour to the proceedings, and Albert Finney puts in a moving extended cameo (give the man a bloody Oscar already!) as the repentent slave trader John Newton (writer of the song, 'Amazing Grace'). I really enjoyed this film, and I was terribly relieved that it didn't all go massively Hollywood or send me to sleep. To paraphrase one of the film's characters, it's a nice slice of history that reminds us that not all great people are warriors or men of war, and as a tribute to William Wilberforce and his tireless campaigning for human rights the film is a huge success.
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