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The Apostle
In the very first shot we are given of Sonny Dewey, we know exactly what kind of character he is and what type of mood director/star/writer Robert Duvall is conveying. What we don’t know is where this mood and character are going to take us, and this sense of mystery is essential to The Apostle’s raw ability of demonstrating power of the human spirit. Sonny's spontaneity makes him all the more human, in a film about the beauty and flaws of being human. The Apostle is Robert Duvall’s labor of love, based on personal observations and experiences during his time in the American South and Holiness Churches (the Christian sect often associated with holy rollers, speaking in tongues, faith healers, etc.). It is a project that he spent years trying to get funding for, and he eventually decided to fund it himself. This is for the better, methinks; I don’t believe that The Apostle would be as rich a film if the creative control had belonged to a studio. Instead of trailing the life of these type of people and respecting their beliefs, I have a feeling that a studio would have been more comfortable exploiting them. Movies about human beings just don’t sell anymore. Duvall’s script, however, avoids the easy conventions and clichés often associated with Pentecostals (Piper Laurie as the mother in Carrie immediately comes to mind) and instead concerns itself with giving us real, honest people who live loyally by their faith. They are as flawed as you or I, and if they ever appear eccentric, it is only because their beliefs have instilled a sincere joy in their hearts that is, frankly, contagious. Within this world of faith and doctrine, we are introduced to Sonny Dewey (Duvall), a Holiness revivalist preacher who has his share of faults. He loves his wife and family, he loves leading others to a “personal relationship with Jesus Christ,” and he sure does know how to preach. He also has a quick temper, a drinking problem, and a lustful eye. Despite these flaws, Dewey never comes across as a swindling con-artist of Elmer Gantry proportions or a psychotic religious zealot as shown in Night of the Hunter. Here is a man desperately struggling with his sins, and desperately and honestly searching for the will of God in his life, and, warts and all, we can’t help but admire his fervent devotion to his faith and his sincerity in the face of human flaws. The Apostle is filled with characters so rich that are placed in circumstances so unconventional, I feel like giving away too much of the premise will be an injustice. We must never know where Duvall is taking us, so that we can appreciate the surprises and how they reflect the human condition. I will only reveal this: The film’s core concerns Sonny realizing that despite his good intentions in a moment of emotional desperation, his temper has made him an outlaw. He understands that soon, the law will come for him. In the meantime, however, Sonny is determined to do as much as he can for God and his religion. He becomes a fugitive and flees to another state, where he changes his name to Apostle E.F. and makes plans to start a new ministry where he will be able to work as long as he can before the authorities figure out where he is. What follows is a wonderful character study of a man seeking to redeem his faults. Sonny doesn't run from his sins so much as he seeks his own brand of penitence before it is too late and he is carried away to prison. We are also given looks into the lives of everyone he touches while he searches for redemption, and their often baffled attempts to interpret this mysterious Apostle E.F. who has come out of nowhere and changes their town upside down with a bold vision of faith and love. Viewers, even those who are not religious, will be shocked to find that this holy man ticks and functions just like the rest of us, and this realization is the heart of the film. Watch the way that Sonny maneuvers around complicated incidents that occur, such as troublemaking rednecks (led by Billy Bob Thorton) or raising funds to build a church. At all times, Sonny is level-headed and as calculative as the best businessman, and it’s all out of motivation of his love for God. He contains the same passions and flaws as any member of the audience; the only difference is that his both his passions and his flaws are made more clear because of his religious beliefs. At last, here is a film about religion that does not keep it at an arm’s length, but rather thrusts the viewer into it by approaching Sonny and his flock with respect. At no time are we pressured to go along with Sonny, but his genuine charm and his devotion for God entices us to do so. Duvall makes it easy to understand why so many people have become converts of this faith—it is honest, supportive, meditative, and even fun. Because it takes the religion of the Bible-belt so seriously, The Apostle also is also a deeply-heartfelt exploration of culture in the American South. Duvall picks his cast carefully to convey Sonny’s world, including a large handful of non-actors. Painstaking detail was placed into getting the theology right, as well as the the mannerisms and slang of the characters and the look of the towns and churches. By the end of The Apostle, we have an appreciation for the Southern way of life, and we also recognize that an often misunderstood religious group consists of people not much different from the rest of us. Duvall has created a love letter to Pentecostals by respectfully painting their fervent, passionate beliefs that embrace both human strength and weakness. The result is one of the most honest, human stories ever told. Cast: A Butcher’s Run Film
Production. Written, directed, and produced by Robert Duvall.
Rated PG-13 for brief language and thematic violence. Running
time: 134 minutes. Original United States release date: October
9, 1997 (New York Film Festival). Questions? Comments? E-mail me: danel_the_tinman@hotmail.com |
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