| The
Apostle
Robert Duvall USA
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| It sure isn't that Hollywood crap!" Robert Duvall exclaimed to Moving
Pictures back in November, months before The Apostle became one of the
year's most heavily lauded films. It was a labour of love for Duvall, who
had been working for more than 10 years on getting the project off the
ground before finally despairing of Hollywood cooperation and taking the
project completely into his own hands. "They just didn't get it," he said
of the studios and the Hollywood establishment.
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The appeal of The Apostle lies in the universality of its themes. It's a story of a man in search of redemption, a character whose flamboyance and flaws are believable, especially within the milieu of southern US evangelism. Duvall has worked doggedly to expose and explain the film to as wide an audience as possible. He has done countless print interviews and, for a while, it was nearly impossible to turn on the TV in the US without seeing Duvall expounding on his film. He has appeared on everything from Oprah! to a talk show on a country and western cable channel. He even put in an appearance on The 700 Club, TV evangelist and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson's TV show. "It's not based on any one evangelist," Duvall said, explaining that he based the character on an amalgam of evangelists whom he observed over a period of years. As depicted in the film, the life of an evangelist is not too unlike that of a travelling rock star. The main thrust of his work is performance. One energetic scene shows a group of evangelists preaching and gyrating on stage, jumping into the congregation and interacting with its members. Ultimately, one preacher, seized by God, breaks into a stutter step that is the evangelist equivalent of Michael Jackson's moonwalk. October Films engaged in a nearly unprecedented marketing campaign for an independent film, running expensive ads on national TV. The attention generated, however, not only garnered a strong box office, it also paved the way for a deserved Oscar nomination for Duval. "I'd say this is one of the most exciting things I've done in my life," Duval told Moving Pictures. With an official screening at this year's Cannes, there's little doubt that the excitement has yet to wear off. Jeff Sipe |
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