The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 6 nominations
Ciarán Hinds
- Lord Tarleton
- (as Ciaran Hinds)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe scene where William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) sings "Amazing Grace" at the card house was sung by 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.
- GoofsAt several points in the movie we see handshakes, notably Wilberforce with other MPs. This is entirely in period; there are references to shaking hands at least as far back as Shakespeare. It was unusual in other European countries (the young Wilberforce and Pitt amused the French by doing this when visiting the court of Louis XVI in 1783) but not in Britain.
- Quotes
John Newton: Although my memory's fading, I remember two things very clearly. I'm a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Tavis Smiley: Episode dated 23 January 2007 (2007)
Featured review
Saw this at Toronto Film Festival!
Ioan Gruffudd in Amazing Grace, Michael Apted's new masterpiece - what can I say? The man delivered his usual brilliant performance. What made this one better than all the rest? Why do I think Oscar when I think of his part? Every moment he was on screen drew you deeper and deeper into identifying with William Wilberforce until at the end, when he finally achieves his life's work, you want to clap right along with the people applauding him on screen! When he suffers, you suffer right along with him. From the wry twist of his lips to the pain and devastation in his eyes to the fervent body language as he makes point after impassioned point, you are right there living Wilberforce's life.
The most charming parts were fodder provided by the fabulous screen writing and brought to electric life by Ioan Gruffudd as impassioned Wilberforce, Benedict Cumberpatch as driven and farseeing William Pitt, P.M., Romola Garai as Wilberforce's zesty and feisty wife Barbara and the surprisingly fantastic delivery by Jeremy Swift as Ioan's long-suffering wise butler. Jeremy has a way of delivering a comic line with a punch to your chest that bursts into laughter! Benedict and Ioan have clear chemistry as friends with a vision for the future. You can't help but believe these two would choose to be brothers if they could. But the best and most connected relationship was between Ioan as Wilberforce and Romola as his wife. You could feel the way they were already together even while their characters were still protesting on screen.
Michael Apted riveted the audience, bringing to life politics in a way that made you wish you could run out and find a cause of your own to champion. Again, I say Oscar. I have rarely attended a movie where the audience clapped to the point of hurting their fingers with the thunder they were creating for so bloody long! Entirely throughout the actor credits the audience applauded, only varying the volume for those performances they particularly appreciated. Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberpatch, Romola Garai, Jeremy Swift, Michael Gambon, and Albert Finney.
All in all, a tour de force movie that should impact everyone with the IMPORTANCE of trying to change that which is NOT RIGHT.
Congratulations to everyone who worked on Amazing Grace. Truly, wonder was on screen today.
The most charming parts were fodder provided by the fabulous screen writing and brought to electric life by Ioan Gruffudd as impassioned Wilberforce, Benedict Cumberpatch as driven and farseeing William Pitt, P.M., Romola Garai as Wilberforce's zesty and feisty wife Barbara and the surprisingly fantastic delivery by Jeremy Swift as Ioan's long-suffering wise butler. Jeremy has a way of delivering a comic line with a punch to your chest that bursts into laughter! Benedict and Ioan have clear chemistry as friends with a vision for the future. You can't help but believe these two would choose to be brothers if they could. But the best and most connected relationship was between Ioan as Wilberforce and Romola as his wife. You could feel the way they were already together even while their characters were still protesting on screen.
Michael Apted riveted the audience, bringing to life politics in a way that made you wish you could run out and find a cause of your own to champion. Again, I say Oscar. I have rarely attended a movie where the audience clapped to the point of hurting their fingers with the thunder they were creating for so bloody long! Entirely throughout the actor credits the audience applauded, only varying the volume for those performances they particularly appreciated. Ioan Gruffudd, Benedict Cumberpatch, Romola Garai, Jeremy Swift, Michael Gambon, and Albert Finney.
All in all, a tour de force movie that should impact everyone with the IMPORTANCE of trying to change that which is NOT RIGHT.
Congratulations to everyone who worked on Amazing Grace. Truly, wonder was on screen today.
helpful•14730
- pharaohs_kitty
- Sep 16, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- 奇異恩典
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $21,250,683
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,305,000
- Feb 25, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $32,120,360
- Runtime1 hour 58 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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