Amazing Grace

It’s estimated there are 27 million slaves in the world today, more than at any time in human history. Perhaps it’s not fair to the recently released movie Amazing Grace to load it with the baggage of the contemporary anti-slavery movement. Yet isn’t that precisely the point? The movie was released just before the 200th anniversary of the British bill to abolish the slave trade (March 25, 1807). Amazing Grace has the potential, therefore, to speak a prophetic word to our time.

It will not do so, however, unless we understand the film as an advocacy piece. Although it tells the story of one man, British abolitionist William Wilberforce (1759–1833), its aim is to celebrate the fact that it’s possible to change the world, and to do so as servants of God in the public square.

The movie tells the story of William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd), who was elected to the British House of Commons at age 21, served there 45 years, and literally wore himself out in his efforts to abolish slavery and reform society. Although known primarily as an abolitionist, Wilberforce was also active in starting or participating in 69 charitable organizations, including the British and Foreign Bible Society and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Wilberforce’s social vision grew out of his transforming encounter with God and the advocacy of a group of abolitionists who compelled him to be their spokesperson in the House of Commons. The Quakers had presented a Parliamentary Petition on abolition in 1783. Then in 1789, Wilberforce met Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell), an evangelical Anglican, who persuaded him to lead the parliamentary campaign of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade. Shortly after that, Olaudah Equiano’s (Youssou N’Dour) first-person account of his experience as a slave was published.

These activists, together with a larger group of reformers known as the Clapham Sect, were the public agitators behind Wilberforce’s parliamentary activism. One of them acknowledges Wilberforce’s dilemma of whether “to do the work of God or the work of a political activist” when she says, “We humbly suggest you can do both.”

In other words, Wilberforce was encouraged and supported by a broadly based community of abolitionists. The movie depicts that well, if perhaps too thinly. In addition, Wilberforce found strength in the encouragement of Barbara Ann Spooner (Romola Garai), soon to become his wife, and John Newton (Albert Finney), composer of the well-known hymn “Amazing Grace.” In fact, Finney’s characterization of Wilberforce’s mentor is one of the best performances in the film. It is Newton who finally pushes Wilberforce to take up the abolitionist cause.

The movie is a workmanlike period piece with strong performances, lavish sets, and a strong story line, punctuated by a slightly confusing series of flashbacks. The movie ends in a hurry, however, as though it has run out of time on its way towards its inevitable climax.

After viewing the film, I’m aware that I understand some things better than I did earlier. I’m glad for that. Yet I’m not convinced I’ve encountered a profoundly artistic vision that helps me see my world more clearly.

Yes, I have a picture of a tireless social reformer surrounded by a community of activists who toiled for years to turn the ship of state from its addiction to economic well-being to an open-eyed recognition that every human being is made in God’s image. But the movie didn’t help me feel deeply enough about Wilberforce’s struggles or the perils of slavery. It offers a hopeful portrait of a man and community we might emulate, but the creative imagination that would have drawn us from the particularity of Wilberforce’s story to the devastating reality of human trafficking in the 21st century is missing.

Gordon Matties is professor of biblical and theological studies at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg. For a list of resources, discussion guides, anti-slavery organizations, and bibliography, see his home page.