Comments on: What the Manolo Is…

By: Hillary Rettig/The Lifelong Activist

Hillary Rettig/The Lifelong Activist — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 04:08:37 +0000

Manolo, be sure to check out Adam Hochschild’s wonderful history Bury the Chains, which was published last year and covers the same events as Amazing Grace. (I kept waiting for some kind of credit for the book in the movie but there was none.) The book is a terrific read and really fleshes out the story beautifully.

By: Incongruity « Prone to Laughter

Incongruity « Prone to Laughter — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 03:06:54 +0000

[...] Incongruity Manolo the Shoe-Blogger reviews the movie Amazing Grace—about Britain’s abolition of slavery, if you haven’t heard of it. Published in: [...]

By: Fausta

Fausta — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 21:26:07 +0000

I also wish that the film had shocased the lyrics of the entire hymn, not just the first stanza

By: e

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 20:00:48 +0000

Haunting, wonderful and perfect.

By: Lee Anne Millinger

Lee Anne Millinger — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 18:16:47 +0000

I too wish the film had given more insight into Wilberforce. However, I believe his strong anti-slavery stance was motivated by his strong devotion to Christianity. I think the makers of Amazing Grace wanted to distance themselves from this hot-button issue of religion and make it more political. But if you look into the life of Wilberforce, his moral center was Christianity, and that is why he felt so strongly against slavery.

By: LaVida2

LaVida2 — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 17:55:42 +0000

It is not the Wednesday YET????!!!
I think I am rather enjoying the Who’s Shoe Wednesday a little too much!!!

By: Linda Grant

Linda Grant — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:35:15 +0000

Though were Mel Gibson to have made this film you can be sure that he would devoted copious screen time to Jewish involvement in the slave trade.

[This is not to pick a fight with the Manolo, whose taste and opinions I respect in all things].

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:02:42 +0000

Again, the Manolo with the good media pick! But may I suggest that not giving too much emotional sensation is akin to assuming some historical knowledge? I think that the hinting, with the fleeting scenes of the children sleeping next to boiling cauldrons in the West Indies, is sufficient to call to mind the horrors of that experience.

Was Manolo responding more to the fact that the film failed to give dramatic insight into Wilburforce himself? Although I enjoyed the movie greatly (how visually rich!), I found Wilburforce a little flat. But I wonder if that wasn’t historically accurate? Gibson would have had slaver’s rape and murder Barbara Ann Spooner, but ultimately this trippy emotive trick would have meant nothing.