I'll rather not comment on the plot or motivations of the film. Suffice it to say that the film is aimed at religious (specifically Christian) denominations. Nothing wrong with that, it should be encouraged, rather than avoided.
The first thing that caught my eye was the use of digital filming. African landscapes and lighting is particularly suited for real film emulsions and to see it spoiled by cheap digital footage was a real disappointment. The colour was dull and the digital artefacts are very obvious. I don't want to dwell on the poor film quality so I'll move on.
The acting was particularly cringe worthy. Every time Casper Badenhorst started to speak I wanted to stick popcorn in my ears hum Sarie Marais. Francois Rautenbach and Matthew Roberts weren't bad and I could actually feel real empathy with their characters. Unfortunately the rest of the cast were hollow cardboard cut-outs. Richard van den Berg was particularly revolting. While the lead character was giving a particularly heart felt confession in his 'Green Cathedral' we had to endure the Mr. van den Berg slobbering on a piece of fruit and going "mm, mm, um, ja" before ripping off a corn cob and scribbling in the sand like some prophet.
But the thing that shocked me most of all was the graphic depiction of a child suffering. Several audience members gasped and wept achingly when a small boy was run over by a tractor and started coughing up blood straight into the camera lens. The broken posture of the child was particularly upsetting. A little girl sat in front of me and I dreaded what went through her mind. When my wife started to cry I got very angry and lost the last bit of respect I had for the film. I felt the director had dealt a very low blow by using such a gruesome visual tool to advance his own religious agenda.
Unfortunately this film can never appeal to everyone since it excludes all who do not share a particular church's view. It is a great film for showing at church or prayer groups but technically and visually this film is one of the worst I have seen from South Africa. It should have been screened on television on a Sunday evening only.
The first thing that caught my eye was the use of digital filming. African landscapes and lighting is particularly suited for real film emulsions and to see it spoiled by cheap digital footage was a real disappointment. The colour was dull and the digital artefacts are very obvious. I don't want to dwell on the poor film quality so I'll move on.
The acting was particularly cringe worthy. Every time Casper Badenhorst started to speak I wanted to stick popcorn in my ears hum Sarie Marais. Francois Rautenbach and Matthew Roberts weren't bad and I could actually feel real empathy with their characters. Unfortunately the rest of the cast were hollow cardboard cut-outs. Richard van den Berg was particularly revolting. While the lead character was giving a particularly heart felt confession in his 'Green Cathedral' we had to endure the Mr. van den Berg slobbering on a piece of fruit and going "mm, mm, um, ja" before ripping off a corn cob and scribbling in the sand like some prophet.
But the thing that shocked me most of all was the graphic depiction of a child suffering. Several audience members gasped and wept achingly when a small boy was run over by a tractor and started coughing up blood straight into the camera lens. The broken posture of the child was particularly upsetting. A little girl sat in front of me and I dreaded what went through her mind. When my wife started to cry I got very angry and lost the last bit of respect I had for the film. I felt the director had dealt a very low blow by using such a gruesome visual tool to advance his own religious agenda.
Unfortunately this film can never appeal to everyone since it excludes all who do not share a particular church's view. It is a great film for showing at church or prayer groups but technically and visually this film is one of the worst I have seen from South Africa. It should have been screened on television on a Sunday evening only.