Robert Duvall turned 78 this week. He's still going strong so don't mistake this for a final retrospective! But I think it will be hard for him to top the achievement of The Apostle, his 1997 film about the fall from grace and struggle for redemption of a Pentecostal evangelist. The subject had been in the back of Duvall's mind for years before he finally wrote, produced, directed and starred as Rev. Sonny Dewey. It's a totally convincing performance without a hint of patronization. Duvall managed to master the cadences and mannerisms of a Deep South Holiness preacher in such a way that the line between actor and non-actor is hard to discern. Watch this clip and see if you don't agree.
Further reading: Interview with Robert Duvall @ Journal of Religion & Film
Friday, January 9, 2009
Sonny's last sermon
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Added to Netflix queue.. somehow never heard of it..thanks! :)
His scene with Billy Bob Thornton was amazing, too.
Post a Comment