CHILD OF GOD: Directed by James Franco
Plot Summary from tiff.net:
“Lester Ballard (Scott Haze, spitting and scratching at himself) is an abandoned soul, unable to fit into the established social order. As he increasingly withdraws into his own mind, he turns to violence and, ultimately, necrophilic relationships, looking for solace in a world that continually rejects him. The town sheriff (indelibly portrayed by Jim Parrack), both sympathetic to and fearful of the man, slowly closes the net around him — but a mob of townfolk have ideas of their own. Here the frame of the film turns, exposing a society where politesse is only a fingernail scratch away from pure hate and greed.”
– Of every film I had tickets for, this was the one I was most nervous about. If it wasn’t directed by James Franco I don’t think I would’ve ever risked sitting through something like this…but I’m glad I did.
– This film shows how talented James Franco is. No one knows how he has time to do everything he does, and to make a film with this storyline was risky and impressive…while acting, writing, and directing other films at the same time.
– A quote from the novel near the beginning of the film says something about how everyone is a ‘Child of God.’ This made me think about how every person is born into the world the same, yet somehow some people turn out to be completely crazy.
– There’s no surprises from Franco as he makes the audience watch the main character poop in a forest. This probably wasn’t even in the original script, but he added it in to be funny. It’s pretty gross, but I was laughing so hard to myself…I don’t think the rest of the audience was impressed though.
– Scott Haze plays Lester Ballard, one of the most messed up characters I’ve ever seen…he’s one of those completely crazy people I mentioned above. The whole film is basically of this character on screen by himself, living in forests and caves doing messed up things. Scott Haze delivers an AMAZING performance. The film is so weird that if his performance wasn’t spot on, it wouldn’t have worked at all. He’s the reason I was able to sit through this. He was at the screening and did a Q & A afterwards, but unfortunately I had to leave right away to make another film. I wish I could’ve stayed because his performance was so good that I didn’t believe he was even a ‘normal’ person.
CHILD OF GOD was a big surprise because I thought it would be really boring. I really enjoyed watching a film that I wouldn’t have normally watched, and it was amazing to see Scott Haze play this really weird and crazy character. The film is by no means for everybody as some people did leave the theatre…but I don’t think James Franco cares at all about stuff like that. He knew this film wouldn’t be liked by everybody, but he did it anyways, and I respect that. Some people are going to love this film, and others won’t be able to make it through 15 minutes. James, if you’re reading this; I’ll always be a big fan of whatever you do…but you’re one weird and messed up guy…..psycho.
CHILD OF GOD: 6/10
Fast Film Judge 