| Amazing Grace | |
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 Promotional movie poster for the film |
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| Directed by | Michael Apted |
| Produced by | Terrence Malick Patricia Heaton David Hunt Edward R. Pressman Ken Wales |
| Written by | Steven Knight |
| Starring | Ioan Gruffudd |
| Music by | David Arnold |
| Cinematography | Remi Adefarasin |
| Editing by | Rick Shaine |
| Distributed by | IDP, Samuel Goldwyn Films |
| Release date(s) | September 16, 2006 (premiere) February 23, 2007 (US) March 23, 2007 (UK) |
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Gross revenue | $32,120,360 |
Amazing Grace is a 2006 film directed by Michael Apted about the campaign against the slave trade in 19th century Britain, 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" and the film also recounts John Newton's writing of the hymn and highlights his influence on Wilberforce.
The film premiered at the closing of the Toronto Film Festival on September 16, 2006 and its US premiere was at the opening of the Heartland Film Festival, Indianapolis, Indiana on October 19, 2006, after which director Michael Apted participated in a question and answer session. It also was screened as the centrepiece of the annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.[1]
The film's wider release was on February 23, 2007 through IDP and Samuel Goldwyn Films,[2] which coincided with the 200th anniversary of the date the British parliament voted to ban the slave trade.
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The film begins with Wilberforce severely ill and taking a holiday in Bath, Somerset, with his cousin, Henry Thornton. It is here that he 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. 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 which led him to become highly unpopular in the House of Commons amongst the Members of Parliament representing vested interests of the trade in the cities of London, Bristol, and Liverpool.
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 to the present day. Having virtually given up hope, William considers leaving politics forever. Barbara convinces him to keep fighting because if he does not, no one else is capable of doing so. A few days afterward, William and Barbara marry; and William, with a renewed hope for success, picks up the fight where he had previously left off, aided by Thornton, Clarkson and James Stephen. In time, after many attempts to bring legislation forward over twenty years, he is eventually responsible for a bill being passed through Parliament in 1807, which abolishes the slave trade in the British Empire forever.
The film only subtly suggests Wilberforce's inherent conservatism and omits any mention of the causes that he espoused or opposed that would not seem progressive today (he was, inter alia, anti-union, anti-feminist and voted to suspend habeas corpus at one point).
The Duke of Clarence was not (and, as a royal duke, could not have been) a member of the House of Commons, but was a member of the House of Lords, where he did speak against the abolition of slavery. Wilberforce refers to The Duke of Clarence as "Your Grace" however as a royal duke, his proper honorific was "Your Royal Highness".
Charles James Fox died in 1806 (the year before the Abolition bill was passed). Besides, he was the younger son of a baron, so his title was, "The Honourable Charles Fox" not — as in the film — "Lord Charles Fox" and he was only ten years older than William Pitt, not more than two generations older, as in the film. 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.
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The film was shot primarily in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire. Bakers 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.
A number of outside scenes were shot at the former Greenwich Hospital, now part of the University of Greenwich, and around Salisbury, Wiltshire.
According to Box Office Mojo, Amazing Grace brought in a little over $4 million at the box office over the weekend of February 23–25, placing it as the tenth highest grossing film for the weekend, behind such new releases as The Astronaut Farmer and The Number 23. The film has grossed $21,250,683 in the United States as of June 14, 2007. Worldwide box office as of August 26, 2007, stands at $32,050,774.[4]
Amazing Grace was named "Best Spiritual Film of 2008"in the third annual "Beliefnet Film Awards".
As of October 29, 2007, Rotten Tomatoes amassed a total of 108 reviews for the film, 70 percent 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]
Amazing Grace has met with criticism for portraying black people as passive and incapable of participating in their emancipation.[6] In the video, "Michael Apted, the director of Amazing Grace, chafes at criticism of the film's focus." CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh elicited angry responses from Apted when asked about whether the focus almost exclusively on whites as protagonists was itself racist.
The film did not explore slavery from the black perspective. Only one reference is made to slave rebellions, in Haiti. Apted explained he did not set out to make another film such as Amistad or Roots, but to explore the legislative battle from the view of white abolitionists such as Wilberforce.
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Amazing Grace is a 2006 film about the campaign against the slave trade in 18th century Britain, led by famous abolitionist William Wilberforce, who was responsible for steering anti-slave trade legislation through the British parliament.
Contents |
   | Release date of Amazing Grace - Upcoming Movies in Theaters |
| | Santa Barbara announces lineup - Santa Barbara announces lineup - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety |
| | USA - Amazing Grace (2006) - Release dates |
| | Hollywood's 'Amazing' Glaze - Taste Commentary - WSJ.com |
| | Square Sail on the Canal - Square Sail on the Canal |
| | Tomatoes'' Review Site - ROTTEN TOMATOES: Movies - Top Movies, Trailers, Tickets & Showtimes |
| | ''Amazing Grace'' (film review) - Amazing Grace review | Film Reviews - Times Online |
| | "Best Spiritual Film of 2008" - 'Amazing Grace', a nominee for Best Spiritual Film, in the 2008 BFA's - Beliefnet.com |
| | "Beliefnet Film Awards" - The 2006 Beliefnet Film Awards - Beliefnet.com |
| | Cindy Swanson interviews Walden Media's Chip Flaherty about "Amazing Grace" - Notes in the Key of Life |
| | A follow-up interview with Walden Media's Chip Flaherty about the success of "Amazing Grace" - Notes in the Key of Life |
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