Imagine my surprise to discover that I haven’t shared my February RNZ review of Mona Fastvold’s strange and brilliant The Testament of Ann Lee. Admittedly, I was in hospital for a couple of nights on the weekend it landed in cinemas but still, it’s an oversight I am happy to correct.
It’s a biography of a charismatic woman who – after periods of mistreatment at the hands of the 18th century English patriarchy – channels her faith into the creation of a new religious sect and then leaves for the New World of the Americas, where she believes her ideas will thrive.
Lots of the reviews of the film focus on the remarkable performance from Amanda Seyfried as Ann – opinions with which I’m happy to concur – but my review was more about the ideas: the ideas behind the film and the ideas behind the Shakers’ version of Christianity.
Unlike many churches, the Shakers appear to have restricted their community outreach to recruitment. They didn’t appear to have a culture of service, for example. They started no orphanages or hospitals and, like the Amish, were focused inwards. But made beautiful buildings, furniture, gardens – and coffins.
Fastvold, herself, makes such interesting choices. The physical and vocal expressions of devotion that the Shakers were known for are presented as much more choreographed (by Celia Rowlson-Hall, music by Daniel Blumberg) than spontaneous, but making the film an actual musical serves to reinforce its own theme.
After all, believing in the truth of all that singing and dancing in front of you requires an audience to take a similar leap of faith as the Shakers themselves.
You won’t find many more interesting new films this year, I’m sure.
Where to watch The Testament of Ann Lee
Aotearoa, Australia, Canada, Ireland & UK: Streaming on Disney+
India: Streaming on Hotstar
USA: Streaming on Disney+ or Hulu
