Die Stropers

Simply beautiful! A story told through divine shots and delightfull cinematography. Impressive directing and wonderful performances. A gem!

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Director: Etienne Kallos

Cast Alex van Dyk Brent Vermeulen Juliana Venter Morné Visser Erika Wessels Benre Labuschachne Danny Keough Roxana Kerdachi.

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.

A powerful film. For performances and cinematography, first. A religious story. It is not an evidence, only the feeling across entire film. A surprising force of acting of the two young lead actors. The photography, the Afrikaans itself, the bitter atmosphere, the game of appearences as solid virtues. The only problem, maybe the story who is more a sketch for give to the viewer the chance to define the moments, to put together the reactions of characters or to judge.

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.