Faan se trein

While there's an original plot, the overacting and hammering of religious themes weighs thin mid way through. The cinematography is superb, and the soundtrack, while not perfect, isn't too distracting. The dialogue is simple bordering on trite/insulting at times. There are tender touching moments here, and Faan's character is a study and a delight. Sadly the majority of the cast are hampered by idiotic scenes. Even the petty vindictiveness of the town folk seems disingenuous because of the ham fisted directing. Too many times people just do and say things too far beyond the realm of possibility. Too bad cuz this one had potential.

Not a bad movie for a small town in South Africa, trying to show there different ways in the country.

The cast of the movie is really portrayed very well in each character and the cast had been outstanding.

The film is very well made, which makes it a very pleasant film to watch. The film has a mental side of it showing the lively hood of the Africaner struggle.

As the movie goes on, some of the funny bits and expressions will only be understood by the native language speakers.

This movie is well made for a South African movie, very good performances from each character and explores the inner beauty.

Sadly this movie will never have the rating it deserves because so much is lost if you watch it in another culture with subtitles. One complained about the overuse of the Christian faith, yet that was the context of the culture especially so around that time. The subtitles would never do the original language justice so it's understandable that it would be perceived by the less perceptive as trite. All considered, when you end your dribble by saying 'cuz' instead of 'because' you end up only aging yourself as a modern day teen and rating your own review 4/10, if that. The movie is true to South African historic culture, the language, nuance, etc. Normally when we review foreign movies we attempt to compensate for our own ignorance about that specific culture. I hope people will see it from that point of view. It's really a beautiful movie from story, acting, sound, cinematography, directing.

This film for me and wife was a little masterpiece and am surprised that it has not received more international attention or more local acclaim.

One reviewer said that the portrayal of a simple minded person in a small Afrikaans community would cause offence, they could not be more wrong since the portrayal was superbly executed (An extremely difficult role that deserved an award), ably backed up by an excellent cast that capture this small drought ridden Afrikaans town with complete aplomb.

I will not reveal the story, other than to say that that it is a little gem brilliantly directed, superb cinematography and the use of the music (Excellent) is so well done that it enhances the quality of the film. So many films the use of music is excessive and detracts from the film but not here, congratulations to all involved.

My wife and i thoroughly enjoyed 'Die Wonderweker,based on the life of Eugene Marais, but this film is even better. There is no doubt in my mind that Afrikaans films can be up their with the best international ones. Yes, there is a lot of mediocre to bad ones made, but that also applies to overseas ones as served up in copious quantities on television, this one being an extremely welcome exception.

This film is very well made. It has excellent cinematography and has very good performances by some of the most talented South African actors. I believe the story is true to its time and setting with typical characters for a small South African town at the time.

It is a deep story about honest innocence opposed to people wearing masks. It is about loyalty, stereotypes, prejudice, community, acceptance, priorities and redemption.

All of this does not make it a pleasant film to watch, though. The film explores the beauty and the dark side in people and raises difficult questions about what we base our decisions on.

Overall I found this a very depressing film that wallows in an "Afrikaner struggle" mentality. The only emotional appeal that the film has is that it tries very hard to evoke pity from the viewer - pity for the prejudices that Faan faces as a handicapped person and pity for his father who, as a struggling manual laborer is up against the threat of mechanization. Unfortunately I believe that pity serves rather badly as the sole golden thread that's supposed to keep me glued to a movie screen.

If you enjoy art-house films that explore the darker side of the human psyche and if you enjoyed a film like "Die Wonderwerker", then you'll enjoy this film. If you are looking to be entertained, though, you might need to look a bit further.