Amazing Grace (2006 film)

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Not to be confused with The Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace

Film release poster
Directed by Michael Apted
Produced by Terrence Malick
Patricia Heaton
David Hunt
Edward R. Pressman
Ken Wales
Written by Steven Knight
Starring Ioan Gruffudd
Benedict Cumberbatch
Romola Garai
Albert Finney
Music by David Arnold
Cinematography Remi Adefarasin
Editing by Rick Shaine
Studio FourBoys Films
Walden Media
Bristol Bay Productions
Ingenious Film Partners
Roadside Attractions
Distributed by Momentum Pictures (UK)
Roadside Attractions (US)
Samuel Goldwyn Films (US)
Release date(s) 16 September 2006 (Toronto)
23 February 2007 (US wide)
23 March 2007 (UK)
Running time 118 minutes
Country United States & United Kingdom
Language English
Budget $29,000,000
Box office $32,120,360 [1]

Amazing Grace is a 2006 biographical drama film directed by Michael Apted, about the campaign against slave trade in the British Empire, led by William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament. The title is a reference to the hymn "Amazing Grace". The film also recounts the experiences of John Newton as a crewman on a slave ship and subsequent religious conversion, which inspired his writing of the poem later used in the hymn. Newton is portrayed as a major influence on Wilberforce and the abolition movement.

The film premiered on 16 September 2006 at the Toronto Film Festival, followed by showings at the Heartland Film Festival, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and the European Film Market, before opening in wide U.S. release on 23 February 2007,[2] which coincided with the 200th anniversary of the date the British parliament voted to ban the slave trade.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film begins in 1797 with William Wilberforce severely ill and taking a holiday in Bath, Somerset, with his cousin, Henry Thornton. It is here that William is introduced to his future wife, Barbara Spooner. Although he at first resists, she convinces him to tell her about his life.

The story flashes back 15 years to 1782, and William recounts the events that led him to where he is now. He is portrayed as addicted to laudanum due to his illness. He is introduced to Barbara Spooner at the Pump House at Bath. They do not get on.

Beginning as an ambitious and popular Member of Parliament (MP), William was persuaded by his friends William Pitt, Thomas Clarkson, Hannah More, and others to take on the dangerous issue of the British slave trade. This led him to become highly unpopular in the House of Commons amongst the MPs representing vested interests of the slave trade in London, Bristol, and Liverpool. The film portrays William Pitt the Younger as one of his few friends and allies.

He is introduced to the abolitionist cause over dinner at his house by two new guests, Thomas Clarkson and Olaudah Equiano. His conviction in the cause deepens following conversation with John Newton (who is portrayed sweeping a church floor dressed in sackcloth) who is said to live "in the company of 20,000 ghosts... slaves". As a former slave ship owner he deeply regrets his life, and the effects on his fellow man.

Exhausted, and frustrated that he was unable to change anything in the government, William becomes physically ill (in the film he is depicted as suffering from chronic colitis), which brings the story back up to 1797. Having virtually given up hope, William considers leaving politics forever. Barbara convinces him to keep fighting because if he does not, there will be no one else capable of doing so. A few days afterward, William and Barbara marry.

William, with a renewed hope for success, picks up the fight against slave trade where he had previously left off, aided by Thornton, Clarkson, and James Stephen. In time, after the 20-year campaign and many attempts to bring legislation forward, he is eventually responsible for a bill being passed through Parliament in 1807, which abolishes the slave trade in the British Empire forever.

[edit] Historical inaccuracies

Prince William, the Duke of Clarence was never a member of the House of Commons, but was, beginning in 1789, a member of the House of Lords, where he did speak against the abolition of the slave trade. However, prior to being made a Duke like his elder brothers and receiving a similar Parliamentary grant to the House of Lords, Prince William had put pressure on his reluctant father by threatening to run for the House of Commons. This prospect had horrified his father, George III, who in May 1789 made him a royal duke and thus ineligible for the House of Commons. Wilberforce addresses the Duke of Clarence as "Your Grace", which is correct in the parts of the film which cover 1782–1789. By May 1789, as a royal duke, his proper honorific would have been "Your Royal Highness".

In one early scene, Clarence wagers his black slave coachman against Wilberforce in a card game. It is unlikely, however, that Clarence owned any domestic slaves at this time, as Somersett's Case in 1772 had virtually eliminated slavery in England.

The film briefly refers to William's founding of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. However, this post-dated the abolition debate by many years (1824).

Charles James Fox appears in Commons at the passage of the Abolition bill, but he died in 1806, the year before the bill was passed. Fox was the younger son of a baron, and his title was "The Honourable Charles Fox" — not, as in the film, "Lord Charles Fox". Fox was in reality only ten years older than William Pitt. Banastre Tarleton, later a baronet, was never a lord, as titled in the film.

Various ships in the film fly the flag of the British East India Company despite the fact that that flag was not used outside the East Indies. When crossing the Atlantic, these ships would instead fly the British ensign.

In one scene Wilberforce, known as a fine singer, sings the first verse of "Amazing Grace". However, the verses written by John Newton were not associated with the now familiar melody until much later.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Production

The film was shot primarily in Hull, Yorkshire. Baker's Quay, which forms part of the Parliament Docks on the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal, was used as a backdrop against which to recreate the atmosphere of the East India Docks in London circa 1780. Shooting took place during October 2005 and involved the tall ships, Kaskelot, Earl of Pembroke, Johanna Lucretia and Phoenix.[3] During January 2006, the scenes from The Houses of Parliament were shot at the 1743 Church within Chatham Historic Dockyard. The wedding scene was filmed at Garsington Church.[4]

A number of outside scenes were shot at the former Greenwich Hospital, now part of the University of Greenwich and around Salisbury, Wiltshire.

[edit] Release

[edit] Box office

According to Box Office Mojo, Amazing Grace brought in a little over $4 million at the box office over its opening weekend of February 23–25, 2007, making it the 10th-highest grossing film for the weekend, behind such new releases as The Astronaut Farmer and The Number 23. The film had grossed $21,250,683 in the United States as of June 14, 2007. Worldwide box office as of August 26, 2007, stood at $32,050,774.[1]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Reception

As of October 29, 2007, Rotten Tomatoes amassed a total of 108 reviews for the film, 70% of which were positive (or "fresh"). According to the website, the film is "your quintessential historical biopic: stately, noble, and with plenty of electrifying performances."[5]

[edit] Soundtracks

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Box Office Mojo: Worldwide gross for Amazing Grace Retrieved 2011-08-06
  2. ^ Release date of Amazing Grace from BoxOfficeMojo.com
  3. ^ Full details of the filming can be found at Gloucester Docks and the Sharpness Canal website - Filming "Amazing Grace" and details of the ships used at Square Sail on the Canal.
  4. ^ "St Mary, Garsington". A Church Near You. Archbishops' Council. http://www.achurchnearyou.com/garsington-st-mary/. Retrieved 1 July 2010. 
  5. ^ Amazing Grace at Rotten Tomatoes

[edit] External links

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