The story of William Wilberforce is a powerful one, and they couldn't have shown that better than in this film. William is a brave and loving man in the Georgian times, battling against the torturous ways of slavery. He is faced with many problems, and when he succeeds at final, God the Father takes his soul up to heaven the very next day, as the history books tell us. he is an example to us all, no matter how small we are, no matter how impossible our cause seems, no matter if there is but little hope; we can succeed. This film has changed my life, and I am ever indebted to it. He himself feels lost sometimes, for years even a failure. But he steps back on his horse as his beloved wife encourages him to fight again. And so he takes up all his friends once more, into the battle over slavery. His victory, in the end, has changed the way of the world today, and we are ever obliged to him. This is a must watch, and an amazing, moving, touching, spectacular, picture.

The opening of "Amazing Grace," has a written statement that sets the stage for the movie. It reads, "By the late 18th century, over 11 million African men, women and children had been taken from Africa to be used as slaves in the West Indies and the American colonies. Great Britain was the mightiest super-power on earth and its empire was built on the backs of slaves. The slave trade was considered acceptable by all but a few. Of those, even fewer were brave enough to speak against it."The film is part biopic, part historical drama, and part fiction. It is an excellent story about slavery, and the efforts in 18th century England to stop the trafficking and sale of human beings. The focus is on one man who led a small group of dedicated people in the fight to end the slave trade. William Wilberforce, played by Ioan Gruffudd, was a man of many accomplishments in England. This film tells the story of his 26-year effort to abolish the slave trade. And, his inspiration for ending slavery completely within the British Empire by the time of his death in 1833. Gruffudd is just one of a large cast, all of whom deliver outstanding performances in their roles. Benedict Cumberbatch plays an excellent William Pitt (the Younger). Albert Finney is excellent as John Newton. He is a former slave-trader, now reformed, and writer of the song, "Amazing Grace." Michael Gambon is excellent as Lord Charles Fox (who was not a Lord in real life). Rufus Sewell as Thomas Clarkson, Ramola Garai as Barbara Spooner, and Youssou N'Dour as Olaudah Equiano all excelled in their roles. The rest of the supporting cast, down to Richard the butler, played by Jeremy Swift, were excellent. Two key fictional characters also were played quite well. Ciarán Hinds excelled as Lord Tarleton, a leader of those who opposed the abolition of the slave trade. He is another character of peerage who would not have served in the House of Commons, but the House of Lords. And, Toby Jones was very good as the fictitious character, the Duke of Clarence, who supposedly was the young son of the king. While not a character in this film, the king would have been King George III. He reigned almost the entire lifespan of Wilberforce – from 1760 (age 12) to 1820. The last 11 years of his life, he suffered a mental illness that earned him the title "Mad King George." This was, however, after the ending of the slave trade in 1807. The film overall does fair justice to the principal characters involved in the battles to end the slave trade and eventually slavery. The role of Lord Fox was highly fictionalized. He was ahead of Wilberforce in calling for an end to the slave trade – as was William Pitt the Younger. While many of the situations in the film are true, the actual details and facts are altered. I think the life of Olaudah Equiano would make for an interesting movie itself. Most of the details given in the film were factual. But the film doesn't mention his many accomplishments and travels as an explorer and merchant. He also went under the name of Gustavus Vassa, and later married an English woman. The couple had two daughters. He was 52 yeas old at his death. A scene in the movie has Wilberforce visiting his grave site, but in reality, the exact location of his burial is unknown. Movie buffs may be interested to know that the U.S. abolished the slave trade within months of the action by England. But, just as in England, slavery continued. England was much faster in ending slavery outright. That was in 1833, shortly after Wilberforce's death. It took the U.S. until December 6, 1865 to end slavery entirely. That was the date the states ratified the 13th amendment to the Constitution. On Feb. 1 of that year, Pres. Abraham Lincoln approved a joint resolution of Congress that provided for the constitutional amendment. Other viewers have referred to the film, "Amistad." It is an excellent companion film to "Amazing Grace." These are important stories about the horrors of slavery. And, they are good accounts of some early heroes in the cause to end this horrible abuse of human beings.Albert Finney's John Newton in this film gives an impassioned reply and charge to Wilberforce when he asks Newton for help. I think it's a nice description of the film's plot. "I can't help you. But do it, Wilber! Do it! Take them on! Blow their dirty, filthy ships out of the water. The planters, sugar barons, Alderman Sugar Cane, the Lord Mayor of London. … Liverpool, Boston, Bristol, New York – all their streets running with blood, dysentery, puke! You won't come away from these streets clean, Wilber. You'll get filthy with it, you'll dream it, see it in broad daylight. But do it … for God's sake." This is an excellent film all around.

There is no doubt that the Brits love a good period drama, either on a big or small screen. There seems to be a regular flow of costume dramas that enthrall audiences while they're on but fade from memory the second the next one comes along. So if you're a fan of Jane Austin or are waiting for your latest fix of Charlotte Bronte to come along, might I suggest that you turn your attention to this curiously over-looked film which not only has all the attention to detail you'd expect from such a production but also benefits from being a true story instead of the bodice-ripper you may be used to.Mr Fantastic himself Ioan Gruffudd plays William Wilberforce, a young and committed Christian MP in the early days of the 19th century. Striving to end the slave trade on which the British Empire reaped such rewards at the time, Wilberforce finds little sympathy in Parliament for his ideas but he is not without some allies. His good friend William Pitt (Benedict Cumberbatch) must balance support for Wilberforce against his ambitions to be Prime Minister while like-minded preacher Thomas Clarkson (Rufus Sewell) and his colleague, former slave Olaudah Equiano (singer Youssou N'Dour) find their reputations being tarnished as the country moves closer to war with France. But as the strain begins to show and his health begins to fade, what will it take to change a nation without risking it all? I'm not hugely familiar with the story of Wilberforce although I was aware that this film marked the 200th anniversary of these events. What I am aware of is that this is a fine example (another fine example) is the British coming up trumps with this type of film. It looks the absolute business and the film is certainly to be commended on that. Acting is also very good - Gruffudd is superb as Wilberforce and Cumberbatch is equally impressive alongside a stellar cast. However, I did feel that the dialogue felt a little clunky at times as though they were frightened of sounding authentic. I understand that the director, veteran Michael Apted, wanted the film to be accessible but it just felt a bit history-lite. I have also since learnt that the film contains numerous historical inaccuracies but seeing as Hollywood plays fast and loose with the truth on a regular basis, I wouldn't hold that against this film.While not what you would call entertaining, "Amazing Grace" offers plenty of inspiration and provides an uplifting message about never giving up on your beliefs. I am all for portraying stories like this in a way that reaches as many people as possible and while I confess that the film did not initially grab my interest, it quickly became apparent that this film is more than just a puffed-up luvvie exercise. The sad thing, for me, is that while the slave trade was eventually abolished, slavery itself is very much alive and kicking - I wonder how many of you are sat there in your Nike trainers or drinking coffee that isn't Fairtrade. "Amzing Grace" is a film about Wilberforce's life but the story of Wilberforce's work has not quite finished yet.

There's an art to cooking fresh tuna, it should be very lightly seasoned and seared, too much seasoning you ruin the taste, too long on the grill you kill the fish. Making a film about the abolition of slavery is very much the same, you need a light hand or from the outset it can very easily fall into a pit of despair and political correctness. Amazing Grace then, seems to be seasoned just right as rather than focus on the atrocities of the slave trade it concentrates on the battle the abolition movement faced in parliament.Set in the late 17 hundreds, this is the true story of the abolition movement. It chronicles the life of William Wilberforce, a dashing young politician from the North of England driven by a spiritual awakening influenced by John Newton ( writer of the hymn Amazing Grace) and a sense of moral duty to bring forth the end of slavery.It's a fairly historically accurate film, the sets are truly amazing, especially the historic dock scenes, and costume design is wonderful. There are however a number of points where I felt the film fell short. It's true William Wilberforce fought tirelessly to get his anti slavery bill passed and it did almost kill him, Wilberforce has always been the name most rewarded with ending slavery, but I do not feel enough was made of the role played by Thomas Clarkson. To truly understand Clarkson's efforts one first needs to view this age through different eyes, it's hard for us living in a world of Google, iPhones and 24 hour CNN to imagine a world without radio or television, a world where 90% of the population could neither read nor write or a place where newspapers and books were in short supply. This is indeed how the world was at the end of the 18th century. So whilst we can sit back in judgment of those we perceive allowed slavery to continue, the reality is that very few people even knew about it. The slavers, plantation owners and sugar barons controlled the media, putting out propaganda, suggesting that slavery conditions were indeed better than those many people in Britain faced themselves. There were of course those who knew otherwise but they were an elite few and for the most part kept quiet whilst making money. It took Thomas Clarkson's efforts of traveling the length and breadth of England non stop, to every town and village with his exhibition showing the people of Britain the real conditions of slave ships and the cruelty of life on plantations. To understand the politics of the time we must think about the current Iraq war and the special interests. Just as today a majority of the people are against the Iraq war, troops are there because of special interests, the government contractors and military suppliers making money from war, the oil industry controlling the media and despite us living in a world of information technology there is still a massive amount of people who have no idea what's really going on. The slave trade was no different, it was allowed to continue by parliament because the traders, tobacco growers and sugar barons were able to bribe parliament for such a long time, so whilst the guilt falls on that small group of profiteers involved we can at least forgive the people as they did not have TV or google and knew nothing of it. So it really was Clarkson's efforts down in the street in the trenches informing the people as much as it was Wilberforce's efforts in the chambers that brought about the abolition for once there was public change and public opinion against slavery Parliament had to follow. I did not feel this film went far enough to convey that, Clarkson it seemed was just an auxiliary character.The second point, whilst seemingly trivial, is that some mention was made of the American war of Independence, it was however omitted that a major part of the American intent to separate from Britain was due to the fear in the colony of abolition. The American's themselves wanted to break free of debt to the crown by creating their own monetary system and take control of the cotton, tobacco and hemp industries which depended on slavery to be economical. Franklin, a spy for the French and Coloialists attended a masonic lodge in Scotland was very aware that the abolition movement was a growing force. To secure an economical future America needed to be independent from the crown before Britain abolished slavery or their economy would be destroyed. Other than one line in the film where William Pitt mentions the letters between Wilberforce and Jefferson there was no real mention of this, perhaps then not wanting to offend American viewers the writer Steven Knight chose a 'politically inoffensive version' of events rewriting history as Hollywood often does, rather than an historically accurate one.Those annoyances aside it is a pretty good film. It's less heavy handed than Amistad for example and there's some generally good acting. Nothing outstanding but I did like Michael Gambon as Lord Fox and Toby Jones as the Duke of Clarence. Costume and make up is superb and it has its cinematographic touches. There were some deeply touching moments as you would expect from a film on this subject but the style of direction from Micael Apted deals mostly with the facts making this more palatable than say Schindler's List for example.8/10