Amazing Grace: 5 Hymns that Changed the World

• AMAZING GRACE / BE THOU MY VISION (DVD MOVIE)

From the makers of Ray, AMAZING GRACE tells the inspiring story of William Wilberforce and his passion and perseverance to pass a law ending the slave trade in the late 18th century. Several friends, including Wilberforce's minister, a reformed slave ship captain who penned the beloved hymn Amazing Grace, urge him to see the cause through.In this inspirational costume drama, Michael Apted (49 Up) recounts a period in British history sure to be unfamiliar to most Americans. In fact, his eye-opening biography of 18th century abolitionist William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) is likely to come as a revelation to many Britons, as well. After all, despite the presence of his wife, Barbara (Romola Garai), this isn't a particularly "sexy" story, but it is a powerful one. The title comes from John Newton's hymn "Amazing Grace" ("I once was l! ost but now am found"). Newton (Albert Finney) was a former slaveholder, who became a clergyman and spent his days repenting. While America had John Brown, England had Wilberforce, and Newton is one of many who helped the MP to abolish slavery in the UK. The story begins towards the end of Wilberforce's mission when he's sick with colitis and addicted to laudanum. Apted continues to alternate between 1797 and 1789, when Wilberforce was fitter and more idealistic, and ends in 1807 as his efforts come to fruition. Apted and writer Steven Knight (Dirty Pretty Things) do right by their hero. Unlike Amistad, however, slaves are largely off-screen, with the exception of author Equiano (Senegalese vocalist Youssou N'Dour). Amazing Grace reserves its focus for the politicians who risked their reps for the greater good, like Wilberforce and Prime Minister Pitt (an excellent Benedict Cumberbatch), and those more concerned with the income slavery provided their co! nstituents, like Lord Tarleton (Ciarán Hinds) and the Duke of! Clarenc e (Toby Jones). --Kathleen C. FennessyGrace loves to act out stories. Sometimes she plays the leading part, sometimes she is 'a cast of thousands.' When her school decides to perform Peter Pan , Grace is longing to play Peter, but her classmates say that Peter was a boy, and besides, he wasn't black...But Grace's Ma and Nana tell her she can be anything she wants if she puts her mind to it...What every good would-be mayor needs is a granny from the hood! In this "sharp and humorous look" (The Hollywood Reporter) at American politics, comedienne Jackie "Moms" Mabley makes her film debut as "a lovable but cantankerous" (Variety) grandma, hell-bent on puttin' her local boy in office! With performances from Slappy White, Stepin Fetchit and Butterfly McQueen, Amazing Grace is a "warm, affectionate, positive" and good "old-fashioned comedy" (Los Angeles Times)you'll revisit time and again! A pious, church-goin' widow and grandma, Grace (Mabley) hasa mouth that could take o! n the devil himself, and the resolve to smack down an even bigger evil: politics! When she learns that her neighbor, mayoral candidate Welton (Moses Gunn), is nothin' more than a white man's pawn, she takes him under her wing and hits the street as his campaign manager! Nowthe blue-blood establishment has a no-nonsense, go-get-'em granny to deal with in a battle for the Baltimore vote!The children in this book defy the stereotypes of urban youth too frequently presented by the media. Tender, generous and often religiously devout, they speak with eloquence and honesty about the poverty and racial isolation that have wounded but not hardened them.

The book does not romanticize or soften the effects of violence and sickness. One fourth of the child-bearing women in the neighborhoods where these children live test positive for HIV. Pediatric AIDs, life-consuming fires and gang rivalries take a high toll. Several children die during the year in which this narrative takes pla! ce.

A gently written work, Amazing Grace asks quest! ions tha t are at once political and theological. What is the value of a child's life? What exactly do we plan to do with those whom we appear to have defined as economically and humanly superfluous? How cold -- how cruel, how tough -- do we dare be?Experience the miracles behind the world's most beloved hymns! Each week, millions around the world sing these spirit-lifting songs of hope and renewal that continue to touch every generation. Take an extraordinary spiritual journey through the lives of those ordinary people who composed the extraordinary "Amazing Grace" (the inspiration for the recent theatrical film), It Was Well with My Soul," "Silent Night," "How Great Thou Art" and "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."