A Living Alternative

Today, our staff watched the inspirational 2006 film “Amazing Grace” which follows William Wilberforce as he fights against the slave trade in the British Empire. The film was well written and well cast, telling an important part of Western history. It is well worth the time and money to buy/rent and watch. With such a pointedly Christian title, I must admit that I had my reservations about it’s quality. I was pleasantly surprised.

That isn’t to say it was without fault. As many critics noted, the movie risks under-playing the importance of the slaves in their own emancipation. In fairness, though, the films focus was intentionally on the parlimentary process and not the broader issue. It could have been handled better, but this failure doesn’t spoil the movie. The film also contains a few other historical inaccuracies, the only one that really bothered me was the representation of Thomas Clarkson’s involvement, which in reality was much more significant.

It is important to note that the “slave trade”- that is, human traffiking, is alive and flourishing today. It is important to be aware of this reality so that we can pray and be actively involved in stopping it. Further, we need to realize that unwitting consumer practices in our own communities can contribute to the problem without us ever knowing.

To learn more about human traffiking today and what you can do to help, visit Stop The Traffik.

Amazing Grace Slavery Missional Movie Review

Thursday night Kim & I joined eight friends for an advanced screening of the upcoming film “August Rush”. Having seen the trailers, I was cautiously hopeful about this one. Here’s the run down from Rotten Tomatoes:

“Freddie Highmore (CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY) stars as August Rush, a musically gifted boy who has spent his childhood in an orphanage. But August’s parents are alive, and he travels to New York City to perform and search for his mother and father (Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers). After earning an Oscar nod for the script for IN AMERICA, Kirsten Sheridan turns back to directing for this heartwarming drama. Robin Williams and Terrence Howard also star.”

The movie had moments of excellent cinematography, a better than average soundtrack and moments of what my friend Don might have called “Augustian” brilliance. If you are a fan for romantic love stories and enjoy tear jerkers now and again, you will likely enjoy this one. I have no doubt this film will make a fair box office hit for the American Thanksgiving weekend.

Now, everything I’ve said so far is true, but I admit that I am deliberately showing restraint. The fact is that I found myself frequently stiffling snickers throughout. The layers of cliches and syrupy sweet dialogue were frustrating in the face of a plot that might actually have had some real potential. Robin Williams shows up in a plot twist clumsily lifted from Oliver Twist (in a set that might have been lifted from “Hook”), failing to pull off his role as a semi-lovable, but dangerously flawed street performer. The last nail in the coffin for me was when, in all desperate seriousness one of the young supporting actors cried out in a loud voice:

“Run, August, run!”

Need I say more?

In 1999, a few weeks before our Discipleship Training School (DTS) started in the Okanagan, a group of us went to see a movie. One of the students had arrived early, so we invited her along. She was (and is) a gorgeous, red-headed Australian named Kim. She is now my wife and the movie was “Elizabeth”. It was only fitting then that on Saturday, being the 6th anniversary of our wedding (the first of three, but that’s another story) we went to see the sequel “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”.

Before I reflect on the film, I should mention that over the last few years I have been very interested in Elizabeth and the era of history surrounding her life (before and during). This last year has especially been interesting with the excellent new TV series “The Tudors” and a few good books such as “The Other Boleyn Girl”. So, as I watched the film, I went in with more than the average background information and an already stirred imagination. I am sure that played a part in how much I enjoyed the film

Sadly, the film has received some very cool reviews from critics. Reading their critiques, I can see some merit to their criticisms, but I think they fail to see to the heart of the film. Some have dismissed it as focusing too much on the romantic back stories. This could be a fair point, except a powerful point the film was attempting to make (and I believe they succeeded) was the significance of Elizabeth’s internal death as a woman, even as an individual. It demonstrates clearly why the tradition of royalty referring to themselves individually as “we” is so significant.

What she accomplished in her life time is stunning and often admirable (though I am under no romantic illusions about her failings), but it is even more remarkable in that she did so as a woman in that era. When her mother (and aunt) were barely teens, they were already lovers in the bedchamber of the king, amusements, political tools to used and discarded as was “necessary”. For Elizabeth to survive upon the throne at all, let alone lead England into such a glorious age into her 70’s, is testament to her character. While I will not go into detail here, we also cannot underplay the role she had in shaping Christendom of her day, the waves of which we still feel today. For better AND for worse, she represents an undeniably significant figure in our world and church history.

The film was beautiful, rich and moving. Cate Blanchet captured Elizabeth with such forceful conviction that I found myself moved with emotion again and again, whether it was joy, anger or sorrow. If you enjoyed the first film, you will certainly enjoy this sequel, especially if you recognize that the film was not intended to be a dramatic documentary focusing on the socio-political dynamics of the age (though they are obviously explored), but to reflect on the humanity of so important a woman.

Did you see the film? What did you think?