From acclaimed director Michael Apted (The
World is Not Enough, Coal Miner’s Daughter) comes Amazing
Grace, the inspiring story of how one man’s passion and
perseverance
changed the world. Based on the true life story of William
Wilberforce, a leader of the British abolition movement, the
film chronicles his epic struggle to pass a law to end the
slave trade in the late 18th century.
Ioan Gruffudd (Black Hawk Down, Fantastic Four) plays
Wilberforce, a man born into the age of the Great British
Empire when the country’s influence around the globe was at
its most powerful. It was, however, an age when the
rumblings of social discontent were emerging, and a time
when reformers faced an uphill struggle to be heard. A good
friend of England’s youngest Prime Minister, William Pitt
the Younger (Benedict Cumberbatch, To the Ends of the
Earth), Wilberforce is elected to the House of Commons at
the age of 21, and entrusted by Pitt with the cause for the
Abolition of Slavery.
In spite of his preternatural political prowess, Wilberforce
finds himself torn between his successful rising career and
his desire to give it all up for a life of spirituality. He
seeks the advice of friend and mentor John Newton (Academy
Award Nominee Albert Finney, Erin Brockovich), a former
slave trader who turned to the Church in order to atone for
his earlier life, who suggests that his best way for
Wilberforce to serve God would be to fight injustice with
his political influence. Inspired by Newton, Wilberforce
quickly becomes the rallying voice in Parliament for a
fragmented group of like-minded people to fight the cause
and make the people of Britain, and ultimately the world,
acknowledge the horror of the Slave Trade.
Amazing Grace follows Wilberforce’s career through his 20’s
and 30’s, as he and his fellow humanitarians make the issue
of slavery a talking point, not only in political circles,
but also throughout the country. They wage the first modern
political campaign, using petitions, boycotts, mass meetings
and even badges with slogans to take their message to the
country at large.
Boasting a terrific ensemble cast, Amazing Grace also stars
Romola Garai as Barbara Spooner, the beautiful and
headstrong young woman who shares Wilberforce’s passion for
reform, and who becomes his wife after a whirlwind
courtship. Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban) is Lord Fox, an MP that is convinced by Wilberforce
to join the fight against the slave trade. Rufus Sewell
(Legend of Zorro) plays Thomas Clarkson, one of
Wilberforce’s allies in the anti-slavery movement, and
Grammy winning Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour is Olaudah
Equiano, an African sent as a slave to the Colonies who
bought his freedom and made his home in London where he
became a leading figure in the fight to end the slavery of
his fellow countrymen.
© 2007 Samuel Goldwyn Films. All Rights
Reserved.
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