Amazing Grace

Director: Michael Apted
Starring: Ioan Gruffud, Albert Finney, Romola Garai
Running Time: 116 min.
Rated PG for thematic material involving slavery, and some mild language
4.5 out of 5 stars

Michael Apted’s Amazing Grace is a film about the nineteenth-century slave trade that shows almost nothing of the slave trade itself, and yet is all the more haunting for it. Indeed, while the film celebrates the abolition of the slave trade by the United Kingdom in 1833, it paints an all-too-familiar picture of a country where people born into a life of privilege are almost never confronted with the sufferings of others, and aren’t particularly interested in doing anything about them. Fundamentally, this is a film about the privileged few enjoying comfort and prosperity on the backs of the disenfranchised—a scenario that remains all too haunting in twenty-first century America. If you can watch it and still feel comfortable with the way the world is, you’re probably not paying attention.

The picture is a period piece—a biopic about William Wilberforce (here played by Iaon Gruffudd), a member of British parliament who was instrumental in ending the transatlantic slave trade. It gets its title from the fact that Wilberforce grew up as a member of the church congregation led by John Newton (portrayed here by Albert Finney), a former slave ship captain who repented, became a preacher, and wrote the hymn that is now famous the world over. It follows Wilberforce throughout the bulk of his political career, chronicling the ups and downs (mostly downs) of his fight to outlaw the slave trade, even as his health deteriorates and he battles crippling depression. Romola Garai also shows up as his love interest Barbara Spooner, and Senegalese mbalax singer Youssou N’Dour makes an appearance as the famed ex-slave and activist Olaudah Equiano.

The film is unyielding in its realism (although, to be fair, there are numerous small historical inaccuracies), which turns out to be something of a two-edged sword. On the one hand, Apted (Gorillas in the Mist, The World is not Enough) avoids enshrining or over-glamorizing Wilberforce (who had more than his share of character flaws); on the other hand, the almost total lack of an African presence in the film, though highly appropriate for the insulated society in which it is set, will probably bother some (as I’ve said, N’Dour plays Equiano quite admirably, although the character’s Uncle Tom tendencies—while completely appropriate to the character—will undoubtedly frustrate many). This warts-and-all-approach is probably symbolized best in the scene where Wilberforce interrupts the drunken revelry of off-duty MPs by singing the titular song (of course, “Amazing Grace” hadn’t been set to this tune yet at this point in history, but this is neither here nor there). His singing, while competent, is overlabored and often flat, inspiring one of the hecklers to shout, “‘How sweet the sound,’ my arse!”

This realism extends to the suffering Wilberforce has to endure to get his message heard (not that his life was hard in the usual sense—as the film acknowledges, he was fabulously wealthy). Early on, his occasional mentor Newton admonishes him, “You will not come out of this clean, you’ll get filthy with it. But do it—for God’s sake, man, do it.” Wilberforce does indeed get filthy—he endures physical maladies like painkiller addiction and insomnia, in addition to being treated as political anathema and enduring the shame of failure again and again—all while watching his colleagues waste time on entertainment and parties rather than simply put in a vote for human rights.

Not that it’s necessarily that simple, of course—it never is. The entire British Empire was built on slavery (among other injustices, of course), and removing it was—somewhat accurately—seen as potentially catastrophic to its economic well-being. In a manner hauntingly familiar to the American (and, for that matter, British) political climate of today, the majority of the MPs reject the possibility of ending slavery out of a desire to “support the king” in a time of war. The film spends a great deal of time on Wilberforce’s Christian faith (he briefly considered leaving politics to become a minister), but doesn’t even acknowledge the modern conception that being a Christian means being a well-behaved conservative. Make no mistake about it: Wilberforce, along with Spooner and all his colleagues, was a definite radical, attacking the very source of Britain’s wealth in the name of human dignity (in addition to being an early advocate for animal rights).

With this in mind, it seems a bit surprising that the film was produced by right-wing ideologue Phillip Anschutz (who usually backs tamer fare, such as Walden Media’s children’s productions). Then again, most will smile approvingly at the film’s positive stance on Christianity, ignoring its more subversive (and pertinent) political undertones. In any case, Amazing Grace is a beautifully made film with a message—both affirmative and radical—that deserves to be heard. It’s not going to please everyone, but its value—both as art and as politics—is indisputable.