TGIF

Weight: 167

It's been a quiet couple of days as I've tried to re-connect a bit with friends and family.  I'm not sure I'm doing a very good job, but I'm trying!

This afternoon I went with Lisa Freemont and her mom to see the film Amazing Grace, which stars the dishy Welsh actor Ioan Gruffudd .  The film has some flaws and (perhaps) someone not familiar with the history of the British movement to abolish the slave trade might have trouble following it, but it was a wonderful film.  It's just paced a little slow for the first hour or so.  Told as a series of flashbacks and dreams, it explored the life's work of William Wilberforce, a member of Parliament from Yorkshire who is credited with almost single handedly ending the slave trade in the British Empire.*

It also tells (part) of the story of John Newton, a slave ship captain turned abolitionist minister who wrote the words for the song "Amazing Grace."

This film affected me rather deeply as I thought more about how Wilberforce is remembered in this film, which was released to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade in 1807.  In the United States, it was during the remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the British abolition in 1857, coupled with the anger created by Dred Scott decision that same year.  We think of modern history as changing so fast.  Yet in looking at how the world changed between 1775 and 1875, even our last 100 years would seem to pale in comparison. 

Anyway, I'm too tired to write clearly on this, but plan to do so a bit more as I'd like to take on the current fashion against the "great man" theory of history.    Aren't you looking forward to that tedious bit of blogging?

Still, the film is good.  I recommend it.

And on my current "To See" list:

• "Children of Men" (still!  And Clive Owen is in it!)
• "Breach"
• "Music and Lyrics"
• "Zodiac"
• "Babel"  (may need to wait for DVD)
• "Borat" (see above)

The list is getting long.  Clearly we need to go the movies a bit more.

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*note: I know he didn't do it single-handedly, nor would he have claimed to have done so.

Comments

[Bronwen]

That's a film that's on my "to see" list. Normally, I avoid films that are "important," as I never feel comfortable discussing them afterward. I either feel stupid or pretentious, neither of which I enjoy. Easier on my poor psyche to miss the film until the buzz has died down. An example? I still haven't seen Schindler's List.

This film, though, isn't big enough to get much buzz, and it does have the added bonus of Ioan Gruffudd (at last! A name as unspellable as mine!). Mmmmmmmm!

[Jill]

Okay, it's great to see you blogging again, so I was looking back over old posts.

My question: How the hell do you pronounce Ioan Gruffudd's name? :) Definitely dishy - love (and own) the Horatio Hornblower series. Betcha didn't know that about me! ;)

I loved the movie, and agree it was a bit slow in the beginning but the story was good.

Jill