Movie Review: Amazing Grace

Impressive. That is the most apprpriate word to describe both the life of William Wilberforce and the movie that depicts it. This is the first time I have seen an overtly "Christian" movie that, in its technical and artistic skill, can hold its own in the mainstream movie industry. There were a couple of aspects I felt were unnecessary or inappropriate. First, there was no need to use some of the language that was in there (several, what the movie rating system would call "mild obscenities"). Second, some of the women wore extremely low-cut dresses (now, I understand that was the fashion of the that time period, but they could have been a little more modestly attired). Those issues aside, it was a very good movie. For those of you who like the A&E Horatio Hornblower series, you will enjoy Ioan Grufford's performance as William Wilberforce. By the way, the make-up artists did a great job aging him. It is not easy to make a person look realistically old and in ill health when they are not.
The movie seemed to be done very true-to-life. I would have to read up on William Wilberforce and William Pitt a little more to be a real judge of the matter. What Amazing Grace did capture was the intense passion with witch Wilberforce lived his life. Here are a couple of quotes (not in the movie) that I really liked.

If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.

And, sir, when we think of eternity, and of the future consequences of all human conduct, what is there in this life that should make any man contradict the dictates of his conscience, the principles of justice, the laws of religion, and of God?

Like I said at the beginning, he was an impressive guy.

So, would I recommend seeing this one? Highly. I plan to buy it when it comes out on DVD (and I rarely do that).

On a purely pesonal note, I saw where Wilberforce and Pitt were buried in Westminster Abbey when I was there in 2002. I wish I had appreciated it more at the time, but there was so much to take in, and as is often the case, I took many things for granted, not fully comprehending their historical significance. =(