Man of God

Almost 100 years after his death, the life of Saint Nektarios, full of trials and altruism, is brought to the big screen for the first time.

The question for those who haven’t seen the film is simple: Is the international production “Man of God” a good or a bad film? Were the “angry reviews” or the public right, after all, to give Jelena Popovic’s film the best opening at the box office since March 2020? I hope you don’t decide to waste your time and click on this article in the hope that you will be given a clear answer – you will be disappointed. If you continue to read this review by a non-critic, be prepared for uncertainty and mixed feelings.

The English language option was a failure. We would have seen a completely different film if someone from the distribution had auditioned Servetalis, Alexander Petrov or Yannis Stankoglou in advance to act and have difficulty doing the English accent – phew, either they were not cast or they only listened to the (most decent overall) Christos Loulis. Anyway, the decision was made and the story was written (with English dialogues).

The problem is that this decision affected the entire film as a whole. The actors are clearly stuck, trying to get into the role while simultaneously trying to render a language that is not their native language – a losing battle, in most cases – and this desperate effort will remain a constant annoyance even to the most appreciative. viewer, who will struggle to understand whether he is seeing a bad actor, or a bad performance.

• Man of God