A lover and a fighter

Amazing Grace shows Wilberforce as devout Christian and shrewd politician | Priya Abraham

As an agnostic, director Michael Apted likes studying people of faith. That interest lured him to direct Amazing Grace (PG for thematic material involving slavery, and some mild language), a film about 19th-century abolitionist William Wilberforce. What he found was an intriguing, almost paradoxical historical figure, both devout Christian and shrewd politician.

Portraying this "brilliant balance," Apted told WORLD, was difficult. "You don't want to dim his faith, nor do you want to make him look politically naïve."

Apted, whose films include The Coal Miner's Daughter and Nell, along with screenwriter Steven Knight, had Wilberforce's words and historical record to keep them on track. They scoured his writings and parliamentary speeches, as well as the work of Wilberforce biographers. The result is a beautifully lyrical story, in which Wilberforce's faith is the gently guiding motor.