THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Mona Fastvold
Stars: Amanda Seyfried, Lewis Pullman, Thomasin McKenzie, Christopher Abbott, Tim Blake-Nelson, David Cale, Matthew Beard, Viola Prettejohn.
Set in the eighteenth century, this epic film follows the life Ann Lee (played here by Amanda Seyfried, recently seen in the thriller The Housemaid), the founder of the Shakers, a religious cult that was an offshoot of the Quakers. They embraced community, celibacy, spirituality and it was a life of hardship and sacrifice. They expressed their devotion through singing and dancing and twirling and thumping their chests, but they also found themselves persecuted.
Lee was born in Manchester and worked in factories before finally discovering religion. She eventually came to be hailed as the female messiah who had been foretold, and who tried to reshape the world according to her vision. She claimed to be the second coming of Christ and was named “Mother Ann” by her devoted followers. But because of her religious beliefs and her ability to speak in tongues, she attracted the ire of many who accused the Shakers of embracing witchcraft. To escape repression, she and her followers fled to America in 1744, and settled in what is now modern New York.
They established a settlement in an area they named Niskayuna. Ann and her beloved brother William (Lewis Pullman, from Thunderbolts, etc) expanded their movement throughout the colonies hoping to recruit many more followers. A footnote during the end credits charts the diminishing number of followers over the years and concludes with the reminder that there are currently only two followers of the religion.
This epic drama blends religion, history, ritual and several song and dance numbers in a film that takes some liberties with the story of its heroine and also makes it tonally uneven. The film is scripted by Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, who both wrote the Oscar winning drama The Brutalist, and like that film The Testament Of Ann Lee makes for grim viewing at times and may not be immediately accessible to mainstream audiences. The running time of 137 minutes is a little excessive though and there are several dull patches throughout.
Fastvold also directs, but her handling is a little restrained and her pacing is languid and keeps audiences at a distance. The film has an elusive quality and offers little in the way of insight. It was also hard to emotionally engage with the characters. Structurally the film is a bit of a mixed bag that combines music, song and dance with some spectacularly raw and erotic choreography from Celia Rowlson-Hall, but it rarely rouses the passion of the audience.
The Testament Of Ann Lee looks good though due to its strong production values and attention to period detail that brings the eighteenth century to life. Malgorzata Karpiuk’s costumes bring authenticity to the material. William Rexer’s widescreen lensing is also gorgeous, and he uses natural lighting and close-ups to good effect. Although the film is set in England and America, it was actually shot on location in Budapest. The atmospheric score from Oscar winning composer Daniel Blumberg (The Brutalist, etc) is also good.
Seyfried grounds the film with her solid and mature performance that captures Lee’s complex nature, her religious devotion, and also her vulnerability and her fragile grasp on the reality of the harsh and unforgiving world around her. This ranks as one of the best performances of her career. Pullman brings a quiet devotion to his role as the soft spoken but devout William, who travels across the country to expand the religion to the faithful. Thomasin McKenzie (recently seen in the comedy Fackham Hall) is also firm as Mary Partington, Ann’s loyal follower; she provides the voice over narration for the film, but it was largely unnecessary. Christopher Abbott (from Poor Things, etc) brings a brutal quality to his role as Ann’s cruel blacksmith husband Abraham, who enjoys sado-masochistic sex and resents Ann’s religious transformation and her celibate nature. Tim Blake Nelson (from Nightmare Alley, etc) also leaves his mark as Pastor Reuben Wight who initially clashed with Ann and her followers but eventually becomes a supporter. David Cale brings some humour to the material with his role as John Hocknell, one of the rich supporters who funded the Shakers and their voyage to America.
While well made and technically proficient, The Testament Of Ann Lee is not a film for everybody.
★★☆
