Die Stropers

Saw this at 38. Istanbul film festival...

Beautiful cinematography (especially the scene of the mother praying on the farm), good plot twist. The images of "The Harvesters" blur one by one as if the movie were trying to disappear. Dust, heat from the sun, huge and arid crops and even bodies of water look notoriously distorted, worn and at the limit of their existence. This is how Afrikaners groups live in the south of the African continent, isolated in small groups surrounded by the predominant ethnic groups with whom they have been in contact for centuries, but that history has kept them distant, in a relationship of owner and slave and that today are in an exclusive division that is not far from Apartheid's times. The number of populations is reduced, and their stay will not last for a long time - the characters in the film warn -and such is the representation made by the photography, one that portrays the inevitable uncertainty ahead.

Very strong feature debut from a superbly talented filmmaker. Classic Cain and Abel story with a gay and postcolonial twist. Excited to see what Kallos does next.

The film clearly leaves an aftertaste, but overall disappointing. If the plot were not so deeply immersed in the problems of local residents, it would become more understandable to a wide audience. Of the advantages, I would note the psychologically accurate acting of the young debutants and the general piercing and bitter atmosphere in which the hero loses faith in himself and in justice.

This is the second Africaans film that I've seen with a gay theme, so to speak, that has a very dark and unsatisfying plot and subplot. "Beauty" (Skoonheid) was the first. I gave it one star. And now this one, The Harvesters. Is it just these two, or are Africaans incapable of making a gay themed film without horrific violence, as in the case of Beauty, or violent emotions, as in the case of The Harvesters. Why?

Both of these terrible films are done VERY well with great performances by their leads and secondary cast, with strong directing, but really questionable writing. No one will ever "like" either of these movies. We may watch them but there is no reason to back for seconds and I regret the first helping in near totality.

The Harvesters has some great acting, very understated, making it all the stronger. It has good directing, but the director wrote the screenplay, and that's where it falls apart. Like Beauty, it's gayness is grotesque. I'm not sure who this pleases, as straight people aren't going to want to watch it, and if there are gay people who do, I hope I don't know them.

Great cinematography, acting, directing, beautiful landscapes, but overall so unpleasing. I may go for a "third time is a charm" with the next gay-themed Africaaner film, but it's not looking good.

Just finished watching this very powerful portrayal of a deeply religious and conservative Afrikaans farming family in the Free State region of South Africa who take in a drug using street kid played immensely well by Alex Van Dyk. In fact, he, and the young lead Brent Vermeulen (who plays the family's only son Janno) were both outstanding in this film. And I believe this was their first film roles? The acting from all the main characters was superb, as was the script and direction from Etienne Kallos. A special mention must be made of the sublime scenery in that part of South Africa. I gave this 8 stars (instead of 10) for two reasons. At times I did find it quite slow moving, especially given the length of the film, and secondly, despite the overall high quality as I outlined, I found it a quite depressing and bleak story that left me reaching for a block of chocolate at the end.

I watched the film last April in Barcelona at a festival. It was outstanding and has stayed in my head ever since. a landscape of wide fields, huge cliffs, dark clouds and the brutal waves of the deep blue sea form the setting for a quiet but extremely tense story. The film is unique and poetic. The shots are beautiful.