By Vivienne Wynter with Katrina Hundt and Lesley Synge
Films on religious leaders are usually about men, with the exceptions of The Passion of Joan of Arc and The Eyes of Tammy Faye.
The Testament of Ann Lee, celebrates the 18th century missionary and founder of The Shaker sect, Ann Lee, who believed she was the second coming of Christ.
Amanda Seyfried stars as the Shakers’ irrepressible leader, who preached gender and social equality and was revered by her followers.
Born in 1736, the real Ann Lee was the illiterate daughter of a family of Quakers in Manchester, England which she left in 1774 with a small band of followers to start a Shaker community in rural New York.
The film captures the ecstasy and agony of Lee’s quest to build a utopia in America. It features traditional Shaker hymns reimagined as rapturous movements and choreography drawing inspiration from modern raves.
Yearning for communal grace
Director Mona Fastvold says she was inspired by the real Ann Lee’s yearning for justice, transcendence and communal grace.
‘Ann Lee was one of the few female religious leaders of the 18th century,’ says Fastvold. ‘She and her followers worshipped through ecstatic song and movement — trembling, exuberant and physically expressive acts of devotion.
‘Her radical pursuit of a self-fashioned utopia speaks to the creative impulse at the heart of all artistic endeavours: the urgent need to shape the world anew.’
It’s an inspiring film about ordinary people seeking real, authentic connections to spirituality, often through ecstatic collective dance. There is real beauty in the synchronised movements of the Shaker rituals.
Dance scenes like modern raves
Some of the early dance scenes are reminiscent of the glory days of 1990s raves, or 1960s hippies vibing with the Beatles in their Hare Krishna era (without the sex and drugs).
The film fleetingly portrays beautiful images of the iconic, minimalist Shaker furniture; showing a man fitting a fresh pine coffin with seamless dovetails. The famous Shaker furniture and Shaker Apple businesses are not lingered on, which is a shame.
Followers of all faiths might relate to the discipline of the spiritual quest, the hypnotic hymn singing, the aesthetics of whirling dancers in black and white clothing (metaphor of dynamism and spiritual growth), Â the pale upturned hands (openness to inner growth), the glory of the forests (the glory of creation) and the genuine community and sense of purpose found in shared beliefs.
Great beats on soundtrack
The soundtrack is all about beats: the beating of breasts to reach a paranormal state, the beat of the blacksmith and the beat of horse hooves signalling determined movement towards a goal. It’s effective, though some scenes of screaming and shaking convulsively were more like a Primal Scream Group Therapy session than believers exploring religious ecstasy.
Social inclusion
History records the Shakers’ radical (at the time) inclusion of marginalised groups, including American Indians and formerly enslaved and free African Americans, so it was surprising that the film only showed brief appearances of these peoples.
The Shakers, a community of 6000 followers at its peak, were a pious group of brothers and sisters, growing from the foundation of Ann’s brother supporting her fully (and suppressing his homosexuality) with a clear fear of the erotic.
The film portrays Shakers as instead finding their joy in the divine and adding their voices to the movement of enlightenment, abolition of slavery, equality and liberty.
At its core, The Testament of Ann Lee is a vehicle for the star, Amanda Seyfried, who fully embodies the role of an unstoppable woman with the audacity to see herself as the reincarnation of Christ.
Our reviewers saw The Testament of Ann Lee at Angelika Cinemas in Woolloongabba, Brisbane. The film is screening at selected arthouse cinemas and was released on streamers Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV in March.
