Amazing Grace (PG)

Cast:  Ioan Gruffud, Benedict Cumberbatch, Albert Finney

Review by Carol Allen

Released in the centenary year of the bill which abolished the slave trade, this is the story of MP William Wilberforce (Gruffud), who devoted his life to the abolition campaign. The film concentrates largely on Wilberforce in his twenties and thirties, when he and his fellow abolitionists are fighting a powerful establishment in what often appears to be an unwinnable battle. The son of a wealthy merchant and first elected to Parliament at the age of 21, we see the young Wilberforce considering abandoning politics for a life of religious contemplation. However, he is persuaded by his friend, evangelical pastor John Newton (Finney), a former captain of a slave ship, that he can do far better work for God by using his political talents to destroy the evil of slavery. It was Newton, incidentally, who wrote the hymn that gives the film its title. Wilberforce soon gains backing for the cause from another friend, Billy (Cumberbatch), better known as William Pitt the younger, who becomes Prime Minister at the mind bogglingly young age of 24 but even with his help Wilberforce has an uphill task.

Gruffud is suitably strong and dedicated as Wilberforce, while Cumberbatch gives a sparkling performance as Pitt. Some people may be upset by the fact that there is only one significant black character in the film, Ouladah Equiano (Youssou N'Dour), a former slave, who bought his freedom and then joined the abolitionists. But this is not the story of slavery but of the fight to abolish it, which was largely fought by white men - the only group who had a vote and therefore the power to change the law. Prominent among them is Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell), a wild haired, fierce character. The vivid evidence presented by him, Equiano and the others of the appalling exploitation of their fellow human beings more than compensates for any lack of gruelling footage of the slave ships and plantations. There is also a telling moment when The Duke of Clarence (Toby Jones) offers his black slave as stake in a game of cards. One of the interesting aspects of the story is the modern nature of the campaign methods used by Wilberforce and his fellow humanitarians, who make slavery a talking point throughout the country via petitions, boycotts, mass meetings and even badges with slogans.

Michael Gambon plays the wily Whig Fox, who joins the abolitionists in a cross party alliance; Ciaran Hinds and Jones effectively represent the voice of the pro-slavers and Romola Garai plays Wilberforce's devoted wife, whom he marries in his late thirties after a whirlwind courtship. While there are some first class confrontations in the House of Commons and the story itself is interesting and worthwhile, unfortunately the screenplay suffers from a sometimes confusing lack of clarity in its overcomplicated structure and it does slow down to a crawl at times, not something one expects from an Apted film. Nevertheless, it is still of value both as a tribute to an Englishman of whom we can be justly proud and a reminder that in the right hands it is possible for politics to be an effective weapon for positive social change and altruism.

Just to add a historical footnote to complete the story, after the abolition bill was passed, Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists continued the battle to abolish slavery itself. Wilberforce retired from parliament at the age of 65, though the campaign continued under younger leadership. He lived to see the Abolition of Slavery Bill passed in 1833; three days later he died just under a month short of his 74th birthday.