THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE

All the more so because the legacy of this woman, driven by an extraordinary ambition to reshape the New World, had largely been buried and left to survive in fragments, speculation and myth. Fastvold approaches that history with respect, resisting the temptation to force it into a contemporary framework. The result is a hypnotic, ecstatic cinematic experience, full of bold visual invention and musical interludes that may win over even those normally wary of the genre.

Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried) is a woman from Manchester who founds the Shaker movement in response to the corruption and injustice she sees around her. She challenges the oppressive social order upheld by the Church of England and wins people over with a utopian vision of gender and social equality, one she believes Christ himself would have wanted. Ann and her community eventually cross the Atlantic to New England, hoping to build a new society founded on empathy.

For THE TESTAMENT OF ANN LEE, Fastvold surrounded herself with an extraordinary group of collaborators who give the film both authenticity and a sense of transcendence. Amanda Seyfried takes on what may be the most demanding role of her career, delivering not only a remarkable emotional performance but also striking vocal and physical work. Song, movement and ecstatic worship are central to Shaker practice, and choreographer Celia Rowlson-Hall captures the expressive force of their dance. Meanwhile, composer Daniel Blumberg reworks traditional Shaker melodies with thrilling contemporary energy.

William Rexer’s camera moves enhance physical intensity. It literally draws the audience into euphoric community and lets us experience, from within, its unconventional understanding of faith and the world. With collaborators like these, Fastvold creates something close to a total work of cinema, charged throughout with an almost overwhelming creative force.

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Text: Michał Sołtysek