Robert Duvall, best known for countless impressive and complex character roles, is said to have spent thirteen years realising his third film, The Apostle. In this film, which he financed and wrote himself, he also plays the lead, which yielded him an Oscar nomination. The Apostle is a sharply observed and detailed portrait of a man who wants to be bigger than life, but who comes a cropper on the limitations of his human weaknesses. This Sonny, a popular and colourful preacher for a Pentecostal church, beats his wife’s lover’s brains in with a baseball bat in a fit of jealous rage. He flees his community and has to leave behind everything he loves: his family, his congregation and his reputation. He turns up in a remote and largely black town where he calls himself E.F. alias the Apostle. Driven by guilt and sorrow, he tries to set up a small church in his new village.Duvall strives for a form of realism and authenticity reminiscent of the work of his example Ken Loach. In his role as E.F. he transcends the stereotype melodramatic exaltation of spiritual leaders and presents a meticulous pychological character. Despite the serious theme, the film was a great success in the United States.
