Man of God

The visuals of this movie are wonderful. The acting was firm but the plot did have some gaps that Yelena could've elaborated on more. The film was quite repetitive and on the other hand was extremely compelling in some parts. It is an emotional rollercoaster. Highly recommend this film for anyone who wants to have a taste of greece.

First things first, because Mickey Rourke is still the first name that pops up here and apparently the trailer also seems to give the impression he is in this ... a lot. He isn't - he may have a pivotal role of sorts (as other side characters have), but his screen presense may be around 2 minutes.

Still if you are a fan of his, you will be happy to see him and he looks good I reckon you could say. But this movie as I already said is not about him. It is about (Agios) Nectarios (or Nektarios depending on how you want to write it in English) and his journey through life. Though not from his beginnings but later in life when he already was established. But being established also brings a lot of envy and other things out in people who may see you as a threat to their shenanigans (evil plans).

There is a reason I used the summary line. And I think you will find that our main character seems to be always on the right side of any moral argument or issue. While that can also be annoying, it is something that makes him dependable and loved by many, but also looked down upon by many others who either don't like or envy him or are afraid of the power he may conjur through the people who love him.

That is in a nutshell every other obstacle he has to overcome. Since he so pure and without any evil intention, it is others that rain pain and problems down on him.

Now onto something that may seem weird especially for those who speak Greek. While there is a good portion and dialog in Greek, the majority of the movie is in English. With accents (mostly Greek, but also Russian, depending which actor is portraying a character), but can be quite irritating. Especially when our main character complains in English that others do not conceive him to be Greek enough ... it almost feels absurd in a sense.

Obviously the movie is way more international that way, so I understand the logic behind it. Although to be truthful, I doubt that atheists/other religion beliefs will find any interest in this, I could be wrong of course. What it does though, is taking some of the emotion away from the acting. It feels quite disconnected at times. The emotion and the dialog that is ... the movie is quite long with almost two hours which also may not be something that non-orthodox people might have issues with.

So a lot of suspension of (dis)belief has to be done during the movie ... and you have to roll with the flow. If you can do that, it is quite the drama/journey you are about to embark.

The Greek Orthodox's Padre Pio. If you want to find out what it means to die to yourself and learn how that brings you true and lasting joy, watch this film.

I am a religious man and i really wanted to like the movie! But for my disappointment the edit and the presentation was all over the place! No actual background for any character! Even for Saint Nektarios i couldn't believe how shallow his presentation was. I was trying to feel his injustice, his slander but there is a disconnection to the actual character and the audience. I have read St. Nektarios story and i was remembering things to fill the gaps! Jumping from scene to scene in a hurry to tell us the story of St. Nektarios without actually telling the story! The actors were good don't get me wrong! The problem is definitely with the directing and the editing! Sorry if i sound harsh but the epicenter should be the character of Saint Nektarios, his background and not to just tell his story!

"Man of God" is a Biography - Drama movie in which we follow the life of Saint Nektarios of Aegina, a man who was exiled unjustly, convicted without trial and slandered without cause.

Firstly, I have to say that I did not have any expectations from this movie but I have also to admit after watching it that it was simply brilliant. The direction which was made by Yelena Popovic who is also the writer, it was amazing and she presented very well the life of Saint Nektarios and made possible for the audience to relate to him and to just follow the plot. In addition to this, the interpretation of Aris Servetalis who played as Nektarios was simply outstanding and he made the difference. Some other interpretations that have to be mentioned were Alexander Petrov's who played as Kostas, Alexandros Mylonas' who played as Metropolitan Meletius and Christos Loulis who played as Christos. Finally, I have to say that "Man of God" is an outstanding movie and I strongly recommend everyone to watch it because I am sure that everyone can learn and even earn something by watching it.