Years after failing to convince parliament to adopt an anti-slavery act, abolitionist, William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd), tells the story of events leading to his loss in parliament to Barbara Spooner (Romola Garai). After the story Barbara convinces William to again take a stand in parliament to abolish the slave trade once and for all in Britain.
The story itself is simplistic, and from the outset the ending of the story is apparent. While the intrigue is gone it is somewhat expected considering that the story is an expose of sorts. The problem with the film is the fact that the hardships that slaves are forced to bear are never shown, but only talked about. This causes the viewer to become more attached to the perspective of those pro-slavery opinionated, many of whom did not know about the terrible conditions of the slaves. Another aspect is that of Wilberforce: it's difficult for one to truly sympathize with his position. We are shown how greatly affected by slavery he is, and how the thought of it makes him sick, but without clear visual evidence, the viewer is never given the chance to feel his disgust. While an obvious attempt to keep the age restriction down to allow for more universality, it does still hurt the experience.
Sadly, another weak element is the acting. It is by no means terrible, but the overall cast seldom act with much vigor. There are signs of potential where the actors raise the bar of their performances, but this is never the common and as as whole, never links the capable acting abilities together. Gruffudd does deserve some recognition, for he is the only actor who shows real passion - if only it were consistent from beginning to end.
The overall atmosphere is quite pleasing, as the environment and especially the costumes are in keeping with the times in which the film is set. Though the sets are nothing of spectacle, the film must be commended for not trying to over-glamourise the costume designs, and alienate the films realism and contained meaning.
Amazing Grace is a film which should be watched by many, so that all can know of the hard work that went into getting rid of slavery in Britain. But the subtleness of the film proves useless in getting its main concern about the wrongness of slavery across and the actors don't help either. It lacks real substance, but Amazing Grace is still a watchable history lesson.
--- Also available on Entertainment.Wikia ---
The story itself is simplistic, and from the outset the ending of the story is apparent. While the intrigue is gone it is somewhat expected considering that the story is an expose of sorts. The problem with the film is the fact that the hardships that slaves are forced to bear are never shown, but only talked about. This causes the viewer to become more attached to the perspective of those pro-slavery opinionated, many of whom did not know about the terrible conditions of the slaves. Another aspect is that of Wilberforce: it's difficult for one to truly sympathize with his position. We are shown how greatly affected by slavery he is, and how the thought of it makes him sick, but without clear visual evidence, the viewer is never given the chance to feel his disgust. While an obvious attempt to keep the age restriction down to allow for more universality, it does still hurt the experience.
Sadly, another weak element is the acting. It is by no means terrible, but the overall cast seldom act with much vigor. There are signs of potential where the actors raise the bar of their performances, but this is never the common and as as whole, never links the capable acting abilities together. Gruffudd does deserve some recognition, for he is the only actor who shows real passion - if only it were consistent from beginning to end.
The overall atmosphere is quite pleasing, as the environment and especially the costumes are in keeping with the times in which the film is set. Though the sets are nothing of spectacle, the film must be commended for not trying to over-glamourise the costume designs, and alienate the films realism and contained meaning.
Amazing Grace is a film which should be watched by many, so that all can know of the hard work that went into getting rid of slavery in Britain. But the subtleness of the film proves useless in getting its main concern about the wrongness of slavery across and the actors don't help either. It lacks real substance, but Amazing Grace is still a watchable history lesson.
--- Also available on Entertainment.Wikia ---