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Moviola > Films > Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace (PG) 118 mins"Behind the song you love is a story you will never forget."
Amazing Grace, based on the life of
antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce, is directed by Michael Apted and
features a fantastic cast including Ioan Gruffudd, Albert Finney, Michael Gambon
and Rufus Sewell. Gruffudd plays Wilberforce, elected to the House of
Commons at the age of 21, who spends two decades persuading the English
establishment to end the inhumane trade of slavery. He is inspired
by his mentor John Newton (Albert Finney), a reformed slave-trader and author of
the hymn of the title, to pursue a life of service to humanity; supported
in his struggles in Parliament by his friend William Pitt the Younger (Benedict
Cumberbatch), England's youngest ever Prime Minister at the age of 24; and
encouraged to persevere by Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai), a beautiful and
headstrong young woman who shares his passion for reform, and who becomes his
wife after a whirlwind courtship. Youssou N'Dour plays Olaudah Equiano.
Born in Africa and sent as a slave to the Colonies, Equiano bought his freedom
and made his home in London, where he wrote a best-selling account of his life
and became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of his fellow
countrymen.
"It is risky, in this cynical and mocking age, to
make a determinedly traditional biopic . . . a film willing to focus on the good
that men do. Fortunately, director Michael Apted and his team understand
the challenges of this kind of story and have met them with intelligence and
energy. Working from a script by Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things),
Apted has managed to be true to the outsized emotions of the story without
giving way to sentimentality." Los Angeles Times "An attractive, uncloying performance from the handsome Ioan Gruffudd." Philip French
"It's an inspirational story - one which is told in a wholly satisfactory way, and provides another fitting testimonial to one of England's great political heroes." Tiscali UK
Last modified: 20-Jun-2008 |
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