message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

            
Amazing Grace  Rated PG
Directed by Michael Apted.  
Starring Ioan Gruffudd, Romola Garai



Photos © Samuel Goldwyn Films

It’s really too bad that Amazing Grace is being marketed as a “Christian film” because, truth be told, it’s actually a rather involving political drama, equal parts Amistad, Advise and Consent, and The West Wing.  Working to bring change through a system is a daunting task, whether it’s Parliament, Congress, or a denominational hierarchy.  And yet William Wilberforce was a passionate abolitionist who spent over fifteen years of his life plugging away to bring an end to slavery in Great Britain, eventually victorious.  His campaign took place at the same time that folks across the pond in the colonies and next door in France were engaged in revolting against the Empire. It’s interesting to see a British film evoke some real sympathy for those who decided to stand up against Mad King George.  Wilberforce’s friendship with John Newton, a former slaver who found Christ and then wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace”, is really the only Christian theme in the film, and yet the great Albert Finney makes the most of his brief time on screen as Newton, sharing with Wilberforce “the only two things I know: That I am a great sinner and Christ is a great savior.”  The film is loaded to the brim with great British actors and there is much scenery to be chewed by all.  I never quite believed that Wilberforce and his wife were the young hotties depicted on screen, and their romance and courtship (including a “meet cute” on a blind date) must be seen to be disbelieved.  Amazing Grace is a reminder, however, that moral victories in a world of sin do not happen overnight, and we need prophetic voices to encourage us to keep the faith and speak out even when worldly powers are telling us to be quiet.  Amazing Grace is not a great film, but its message is incredibly profound, for it is nothing less than the Gospel.  

Pitchfork Rating: Five halos.  (Moral outrage and dogged perseverance against slavery, in a film that reminds us that there are other issues today that must also be met with similar Christian conviction.)  Three pitchforks.  (Mild swearing on screen; the horrors of slavery off-screen.)

 

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