The Testament of Ann Lee: LFF Film Review
Filmmaking couple Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold were on the awards circuit earlier this year with The Brutalist – which they co-wrote and he directed – and they’re already back with another project, The Testament of Ann Lee, which they co-wrote and she directed, with many of the same crew.
Set in the 18th Century, this biographical musical tells the story of Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), one of the world’s first female religious leaders. She founded the religious sect, the Shakers, in Manchester, England and then emigrated to upstate New York with her husband Abraham (Christopher Abbott), brother William (Lewis Pullman), niece Nancy (Viola Prettejohn) and devout follower Mary (Thomasin McKenzie) to spread the word in America.
You’ve got to respect a big, bold and ambitious swing. This weird film won’t be to everyone’s taste and you can probably tell if it’s for you within the first five minutes. It opens with a beautiful tracking shot of some Shakers doing their convulsive religious dancing through the woods and I was immediately in. There’s nothing like group choreography to instantly win me over.
The film isn’t a traditional musical where people burst into song and dance in well-defined numbers. This is more organic and unusual as the Shakers – aka the Shaking Quakers – worship through primal collective movements and choral chanting. These sequences are the highlight of the film. Between Daniel Blumberg‘s haunting music, Seyfried’s beautiful voice and everybody moving in unison, there’s a lot to love about them.
The Testament of Ann Lee, which is narrated by Mary, works best when it is in Manchester, depicting the origins of Lee’s religious fanaticism and the beginning of the Shakers. The story loses its way once it moves to America and it never recovers its momentum. There are also less musical numbers. As a result, I struggled to concentrate – even though I had been locked in earlier – and the last 45 minutes or so felt incredibly slow and long.
Seyfried is tremendous and fierce in this role. Lee suffers a lot of grief and you see that pain etched on her face. We’ve all seen her sing and dance in Les Miserables and Mamma Mia! but this is very different; it’s mostly grunts and groans and breathy chants with the occasional burst of her gorgeous voice. She makes a solid effort with the tricky Mancunian accent, but it does come and go (a common problem for all cast members).
The Testament of Ann Lee is a rare beast and one that is set to divide opinion. The first half is fantastic and I was fully on board, but the second half sadly lost me.
Showing at the London Film Festival. No release date yet