The Testament of Ann Lee | Dir: Mona Fastvold | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Director Mona Fastvold was one of the writers of The Brutalist, and has previously directed several films but with this new work she makes her most distinctive and boldest work to date.
The Testament of Ann Lee is filmed with folk music, dance, and a tale of setting off into the new world to find the space to establish a new branch of Christianity in the 1800s. The film has been proclaimed as the best performance of star Amanda Seyfried’s career.
It’s not strictly a musical, but it is a musical-ish. There are songs and music throughout the film, sometimes the songs appear as diegetic sound, but on a few occasions characters begin singing to the audience.
The music created by composer Daniel Blumberg is central to the film and it features a mix of songs created from Shaker hymns and new compositions.
In Manchester, England in 1736 Ann Lee is born. In her childhood she works alongside her young brother William in a cotton factory. After she sees her parents having sex she confronts her father, and she begins to associate sexual activity of all kinds with sinfulness.
When she is older she finds work as a cook in the local infirmary, and one night she visits the home of James and Jane Wardley, Quakers who preach that the second coming of Christ will be a woman. Ann, her younger brother William and niece Nancy embrace the religion which sees people bursting into song, shaking and dancing in religious fervor. Leading to them being dubbed the Shaking Quakers.
Life is hard, Ann loses four children within their first year of life, and people around her do not embrace her religious beliefs.
As the group try to spread the word of their religion, they come into conflict with local residents and authorities leading to violent altercations. Ann is imprisoned, but while behind bars she has a vision that leads her to believe that followers must shun sexual activity even if they are married. The revelation does not go down well with her new husband Abraham.
With the group proclaiming Ann to potentially be the second coming of Christ, they dub her Mother Ann and look to her for direction based on her visions.
With the help of a benefactor they book passage on a ship to head to America where they hope to set up a new society based around their unusual religious beliefs.
Their group begins with eight followers, but Ann’s strict rules make it hard for followers to remain within the groups, and slowly their numbers dwindle. Yet the religious leader perseveres holding on to her dream of setting up a new society.
The film is incredibly stylised. Throughout the work their is a narration by one of Ann’s followers who recounts the story of her life. It maybe breaks one of the first rules of filmmaking – show me, don’t tell me – but it gives the film the feeling of an ancient tale.
The scenes where Skakers break out into song, dance, thumping and writhing are akin to a Lady Gaga video with choreographer Celia Rowlson delivering big production numbers. And throughout the film there is the distinctive soundtrack that teeters between quaint folk songs, chanting, murmuring and wailing.
While it could be argued that Fastvold’s film could have benefited from another round of editing, it runs at over two hours, it is a story delivered in epic proportions as we travel across the seas to a new land and a wild frontier. The film also doesn’t she away from sex, violence and bitter disputes, not the usual content of a work that is in many ways a musical.
The film features an acclaimed performance from Amanda Seyfried best known for Mean Girls and Mama Mia. She’s surrounded by an exceptional cast including Lewis Pullman, Christopher Abbott, Tim Blake Nelson, Scott Handy, David Cale and Matthew Beard.
This story of people looking for a safe space to practice their religion is a timely tale, at its heart its a story about intolerance both within the Skaker religion and for those who fear a belief system different to their own.
The Testament of Ann Lee is screening at Luna from Thursday 26th February.
