"Amazing Grace" (2006) - Movie Review

Warriors are praised as the brave and courageous. They return home with that pride and sleep with the nightmares of the killings they performed in the name of bravery. A peaceful person accomplishes the task of impossible with the same bravery and inspires millions to follow the same path. The path of non-violence aimed towards continuous improvement of making a better world. “Amazing Grace” directed by Michael Apted is the true story of one such person, William Wilberforce who marked the passing of bill to abolish the slave trade in Britain, forever. Michael Gambon as Lord Charles Fox delivers the first few lines with some nice dialogue deliveries in the film.

William Wilberforce (Ioan Grufudd) is not able to sleep peacefully. He has been consistently haunted by the failure of an agenda, for which he dedicated his youth and health. Broken in his attempts, he is residing and ailing from health at his cousin’s place. There he is pushed to meet Barbara (Romola Garai) who in turn pushes him to tell his fight against the injustice of slavery. The film goes back in his life and explores the path he lead and the voices he raised for abolishing the slave trade. The movie moves on with his continual efforts of those and the process of finally achieving it.

The viewers are well aware of the ending. The bill is of course going to be passed. William is going to be the hero of the much awaited victory of justice. With everything aware, what makes this movie still interesting and inspiring? The film moves on as the most regulated steady conveyor belt routine. That does not mean it bores the members of the audience, but gives a constant steady movement towards the well known end. The minimal discussions and subtle points are well enacted. In the current era, everyone is well aware of the fact of slavery. It is cruel and it is inhuman to perform it. Audience being so clear about something and the protagonist is fighting against it, makes it difficult for the director to introduce something novel. Michael Apted does it his own style. The occurrence of events consecutively one after another over a period of fifteen years is a nice employment of traditional technique. While William is the center of attention, the inspiration and support from the people surrounding him makes him run the race without any tiredness. Without good people, it is quite a strenuous process to change something; the whole society has been drenched in it for years and years. The film projects that it is a fact that there are good people everywhere and there requires the right leader and the support to trigger major change in a society of injustice. Gandhi was able to do it with perfection. He had good people and so does William. His consistent group of Lord Charles Fox (Michael Gambon), Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell), James Stephen (Stephen Campbell Moore), Oloudaqh Equiano (Yousou N’Dour), his best friend William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch), his wife Barbara and of all his mentor and guide John Newton (Albert Finney) lift him when William is down and move him forward.

The score did not excel out of the ordinary but stuck to the old book of not mingling with the film in depth. Editing is traditional and provides the steady flow of screenplay very well. The rest of the technical team let the content do its part and modestly paved its way of normalcy over extraordinary. It is evident that the technical departments were advised to do the basic formula and not to experiment. I guess that elevates the content in depth and wide.

“Amazing Grace” vibrates the fact that impossible is a word which needs to be negated. It shows that good people makes great results. Even the greatest of great leaders have their moments of frustration. Those frustrations may push them to the edge of giving up. The people who support him make the difference of saving or making them fall into the hands of weakness. This film is the story of William and the people who made the cruelest trade disappear once and for all.

Having discussed all that, what prompted Michael Apted to pick up a story to reveal to a society well aware about it. Slavery got abolished but indirectly and in the most political way it still happens in the name of hatred. He wants the people to look at William and his army of peace. He wants the viewers to get inspired and change their attitude towards instinctive hatred ness. He wants to invoke the William in the leaders and also the people to support the Williams and keep them running. “Amazing Grace” may not be a path breaking extraordinary film, but it sings the song loud and clear.