"As Vincent Minnelli and Bob Fosse artfully demonstrated, music and movement - song and dance - are powerful vehicles for not only conveying deep emotions but enrolling audiences in leaps of joy and amazement and flights of mind. Daring to dare is the sentiment at the heart of a movie musical, and the quality that moviegoers respond to. The Testament of Ann Lee isn't exactly a musical in the sense that the songs don't tell the story."
"Fastvold and composer Daniel Blumberg (whose score for Fastvold and Corbet's The Brutalist won the Oscar last year) chose a dozen melodies from the Shaker hymnal archive, and Celia Rowlson-Hall choreographed a mix of individual and ensemble numbers. These dances don't just prevent The Testament of Ann Lee from succumbing to the stuck-in-wax fate of a lot of standard biopics and period pieces. They bring the magic, and the entrancement, without feeling anachronistic and pulling us out of the 18th century."
The Testament of Ann Lee follows the Shakers' 1774 voyage to America, shifting from Manchester's drab confines to America's broad vistas and natural light. A literate script by Fastvold and Brady Corbet, energized by a committed cast led by Seyfried, propels the narrative. Music and movement function as central expressive tools, using a dozen melodies from the Shaker hymnal scored by Daniel Blumberg and dances choreographed by Celia Rowlson-Hall. The choreography blends individual and ensemble numbers that prevent the film from becoming a stagnant period biopic, bringing magic and entrancement without feeling anachronistic. The film situates its story amid fear of newcomers and the fragility of utopian efforts, posing whether audiences align with creators or destroyers.
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