Plot: Set in 18th-century England and colonial America, the film traces Ann Lee’s rise from an oppressed young woman to a visionary leader who championed gender equality, communal living, ecstatic worship, and celibacy. Her revelations and uncompromising faith earned her a devoted following and the title of “Mother Ann,” even as she was branded a heretic by others.
Review: Last year, The Brutalist showed the powerful scope a film could present without needing hundreds of millions of dollars. The acclaimed filmmaking duo of Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold instantly became in-demand talents in Hollywood, thanks to their epic vision for stories that would otherwise never make it to the big screen. The couple, who wrote The Brutalist together with Corbet directing, reversed roles for The Testament of Ann Lee with Fastvold serving as director. An unconventional musical about an unconventional historical figure, The Testament of Ann Lee boasts the same 70mm scale as The Brutalist and shares similar themes, yet it is a wholly unique experience. Meticulous in its production values and unlike any musical film that has come before it, The Testament of Ann Lee is a beautifully filmed story and one of the finest films of the year.
Chronicling the life of the title figure, The Testament of Ann Lee is told across three chapters. Beginning with her youth in Manchester, England, we follow Ann (Amanda Seyfried) as she grows up alongside her brother, William (Lewis Pullman), in poverty. Indoctrinated into the church at an early age, Ann joined a sect of Quakers, where she met her husband, Abraham Standerin (played by Christopher Abbott). Abraham and Ann explore their sexuality, and she becomes pregnant four times, losing each child. Eventually, Ann Lee’s fervent devotion, energetic dancing, and singing make her an early church leader in a new sect of Christianity that becomes known as the Shakers. While female religious leaders were rare in the 18th century, Ann’s popularity grew as her followers viewed her as the embodiment of God. The Shakers built their community in England but eventually migrated to America with the ambition to develop into a utopian society that emphasized hard work and celibacy. The final act of the film follows the challenges faced by the Shakers in their new home.
Using Shaker hymns, the film incorporates musical sequences involving the radical dancing that garnered the Shakers their name. Blending these moments of worship and prayer with a score by The Brutalist composer Daniel Blumberg, The Testament of Ann Lee takes songs written two hundred years ago and makes them sound timeless. The hymns evoke a sound distinct from what we commonly associate with contemporary church music, giving Ann Lee and the Shakers an ethereal and otherworldly quality. There are also three original songs written for The Testament of Ann Lee, featuring performances from stars Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, and Thomasin McKenzie. The songs are naturalistic and fit organically into the film’s narrative, with the sequences never pulling you out of the story, as some other musical films tend to do. The Testament of Ann Lee is not a musical like Wicked, Chicago, or even La La Land, but if you could imagine a movie like The Brutalist with song and dance numbers, you would get this movie.
The film features numerous starkly dramatic and shocking moments, including four intense childbirth sequences that are unflinching in their raw depiction, as well as a brutal attack that occurs near the end of the film. Still, these moments are interspersed with the great joy, positivity, and faith that drove Ann Lee and her followers through every obstacle in their path. The film celebrates the joy and spirit that flowed through Ann Lee, thanks in part to Amanda Seyfried’s uninhibited performance. We have seen Seyfried in dramatic roles before, and she has utilised her musicality in Mamma Mia! and Les Misérables. However, The Testament of Ann Lee treats its musical sequences in a guttural and feral manner, portraying the internal ferocity of the Shaker faith in a way that dialogue could not convey. Amanda Seyfried bares all in this performance, which could easily be the best of her career. Equally good are Lewis Pullman and Christopher Abbott, along with supporting turns from Tim Blake Nelson, Thomasin McKenzie, Stacy Mardin, and Matthew Beard.
The legacy of the Shaker movement has dwindled over the last hundred years, from a peak of six thousand followers to just a pair of people remaining who follow the movement. Today, most recognise the architectural and furniture achievements of the Shakers and their quest for utility and perfection in their craft. Still, Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet have resurrected their songs and cultural tenets in a story that is epic in every sense. Beyond Daniel Blumberg’s haunting score and songs, the cinematography by William Rexer is reminiscent of Lol Crawley’s work on The Brutalist, with the film set in muted greys and bathed in natural light. Still, Fastvold embraces the nature and love of Ann Lee and her followers within the trials and tribulations of being outsiders in both England and America. Using Thomasin McKenzie’s character as a narrator, the life of Ann Lee is told from the vantage of an apostle relaying the legend of a person held in the highest regard.
Few filmmakers can create back-to-back films that are eerily similar and yet wholly distinct from one another as Mona Fastvold and Brady Corbet have achieved. While The Brutalist had a coldness and distance to it, Mona Fastvold has embraced the warmth and inclusivity that Ann Lee preached in her day. The Testament of Ann Lee is, at times, hard to watch, but it evokes the exact tender reflection on the halcyon frontier days as Train Dreams. There is a hope in this film that never dwindles despite the obstacles in the path of the Shakers during the era of this story. The Testament of Ann Lee boasts memorable and unique music, as well as a truly stunning performance by Amanda Seyfried that will not be forgotten, just as the woman she portrays was.
The Testament of Ann Lee opens in limited release in theaters on December 25th.
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Source:
JoBlo.com
