I feel awful about giving this film a low score, but I felt I had to on the merits of my levels of interest in what was happening or what was about to happen. It very much played out like the daily life of a monk - nothing was hurried, everything was calm and done in a pure and careful manner. In this way it perfectly matched the mood and the setting of the subjects of the film. But it meant that as a viewer we sat and watched while the characters would have endless prayer meetings, or silent contemplations, or long walks, or read books (to themselves - we don't even know what they were reading), or eat food, or have more prayers, or go for another walk. All done without a word spoken. This went on. And on. And on .... and on. The acting was very good from all parts, and it certainly felt realistic from all parts. But if, like me, you are not a Christian, you begin to question the depth of the story. Of course, it is a terribly sad true story. But then again, in war, there are millions of sad true stories. It almost felt like it was an attempt to glorify the religion, rather than to tell the story, since - as the film says at the end - the ultimate events were never known. In summary, it's a story which doesn't stand out from any other sad story of conflict, but we watch nearly two hours of nothing really happening, followed by film makers' guesses as to what may have happened at the end. I wouldn't advise watching this unless you strongly desire to feel closer to the world of a monk, and to feel closer to a film maker's guess at an individual story of war.
Review of Of Gods and Men
