Though figures like Newton provide and indication in the film that there was a connection between the moral disposition of some in the older generations and increasingly more individuals in the younger generations. And ultimately, we are left with the positive indication that it would be the energy, boldness and moral outrage of these younger Britons that would bring about such an important change.

Indeed, the film is perhaps strongest on this point, recognizing that the individual efforts of certain key figures would be tantamount to the will to change England for the better. This is an encouraging story about the personal drive of such figures as Wilberforce and Pitt against seemingly insurmountable institutions and forces. The filmmaker's decision therefore to draw the story across twenty years of public service on the part of Wilberforce is an intelligent one. This establishes a film narrative which directly underscores the story told...
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