Amazing Grace is a film released in 2007 which is a look at William Wilberforce's attempts to get slavery banned. The film looks closely at the political measures that Wilberforce took and is based in the late 1700s. The main actors in the film are Ioan Gruffudd, who plays William Wilberforce, Michael Gambon as Charles Fox and Benedict Cumberbatch as the young Prime Minister, William Pitt. Although a relatively experienced actor, I hadn't seen any of Gruffudd's previous films or TV appearances, but I was impressed in his role in this film, and equally with the Prime Ministerial role acted by Cumberbatch. I enjoyed this film as I enjoy historical and ...  Read the complete review

Several months ago I was bored watching the usual rubbish on Saturday afternoon television when I turned on a programme called “twelve books that changed the world” which was presented by Melvyn Bragg. In this programme Bragg talked about in his opinion the twelve books that changed the world. One of the books he talked about was actually a speech by William Wilberforce (1759-1833) that was made to the House of Commons in 1789 and lasted for over four hours which was the start of his campaign for the abolition of slavery. The reason I mention this is that due to this programme I decided to get Amazing Grace the DVD out to watch which is based on William ...  Read the complete review

Amazing Grace is an historical drama - depicting an ordinary christian man doing exceptional things because of his beliefs - a man on a mission. Like Chariots of Fire and Shadowlands it balances faith with the art of film making. For those who don't know the story of William Wilberforce - it goes like this..... At the age of twenty one in the late 18th century Wilberforce was elected to British Parliament. Some years later, he experienced something monumental that brought him back to his christian faith - to the point where he was prepared to leave politics behind to fully devote his life to being a 'man of the cloth,' as a clergyman or monk. The future Prime ...  Read the complete review

Last summer, I read a well-written, lengthy and very thorough biography of William Wilberforce. Consequently, I think that I was always going to be struggling to be satisfied by this film as there is obviously no way that a film of less than two hours can do proper justice to such a great man. For those of you unfamiliar with the man, the film tells the true story of William Wilberforce who became an MP at a very early age in the late eighteenth century. A few years later, he became a Christian and this led to major changes in his lifestyle. A couple of years later he decided that he would have to oppose the slave trade, upon which the wealth of Great ...  Read the complete review

Amazing Grace is the story of the abolition of the slave trade through the efforts of the Member of Parliament William Wilberforce and John Newton, a former slave ship sailor who later turned to Evangelical Christianity to help atone for the 20,000 Africans he had transported to America. these he calls his "ghosts". It is set in the late 18th century and the film follows the factual course of events that lead to this great breakthrough in justice. The director Michael Apted has done a truly wonderful job here in keeping the viewer's interest. Some historical films can end up being either confusing or failing to provide the pathos that the subject ...  Read the complete review