Amazing Grace (2006)

Director:

Michael Apted

Writer (WGA):

Steven Knight (written by)

Release Date:

23 February 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Romance

Tagline:

Behind the song you love is a story you will never forget.

Plot:

The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.

Plot Keywords:

Slave | Mentor | Hymn | Slave Trade | Social Justice

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Ioan Gruffudd	...	William Wilberforce
Romola Garai	...	Barbara Spooner
Benedict Cumberbatch	...	William Pitt
Albert Finney	...	John Newton
Michael Gambon	...	Lord Charles Fox
Rufus Sewell	...	Thomas Clarkson
Youssou N'Dour	...	Olaudah Equiano
Ciarán Hinds	...	Lord Tarleton
Toby Jones	...	Duke of Clarence
Nicholas Farrell	...	Henry Thornton
Sylvestra Le Touzel	...	Marianne Thornton
Jeremy Swift	...	Richard the Butler
Stephen Campbell Moore	...	James Stephen
Bill Paterson	...	Lord Dundas
Nicholas Day	...	Sir William Dolben

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic material involving slavery, and some mild language.

Runtime:

117 min | USA:111 min | Canada:111 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:PG | Ireland:PG | UK:PG | Singapore:PG | Hong Kong:I | Australia:PG | South Korea:All | Netherlands:6 | South Africa:PG | Finland:K-7 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

FourBoys Films

Trivia:

The scene where William Wilberforce sings "Amazing Grace" at the card house was actually directly sung from Ioan Gruffudd at that moment. In the last several takes, a playback was used, but it is Ioan singing. Director Michael Apted had no idea whether or not Gruffudd could actually sing. Little did he know, Ioan is an accomplished soloist and choir singer. With a little practice, Ioan performed for the first time on set while the cameras were rolling. All much to the surprise of the cast, crew and director.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The House of Commons sat in the St Stephens chamber of the Palace of Westminster at the time. It is a long, narrow room, not the debating chamber shown in the film

Quotes:

Pitt the Younger: Why is it you only feel the thorns in your feet when you stop running?
William Wilberforce: Is that some sort of heavy-handed metaphorical advice for me, Mr. Pitt?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in How Sweet the Sound: The Story of Amazing Grace (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Haydn Opus 64, Nos. 2, 4 and 5

Great story, well told

This is a lovely, moving and intelligent film. I did not detect any notably weak performances among a remarkable cast. The older actors though, Michael Gambon and Albert Finney, were shameless scene stealers, but one can hardly fault them for their excellence. There were many things to like about this film. It was gorgeous to look at, brilliantly capturing the look and sound of a sumptuous age. The pacing and editing were fine, though the device using flashbacks for most of the film occasionally led to a moments confusion about when a scene was supposed to be taking place. And the story itself is quite inspirational. A note for my Canadian readers and the Canadians who attended the TIFF screenings. The film mostly covered the struggle to outlaw slavery in Britain itself, though they did touch on Wilberforce's efforts to have it outlawed throughout the British Empire. This continued in the years after the conclusion of the film, and a Bill to do just that was passed in 1833, a month after Wilberforce died. So the film we watched was very much about our own history, and the story of the abolition of slavery in Britain directly affected the eventual abolition of slavery in Canada.