(Angus Buchan appears on the poster for the film)God chooses the Ordinary to create Extraordinary. (Review by Raeesa Abdul-Karrim)
I had the privilege of attending the pre-screening held at Ster Kinekor Gateway of the highly anticipated South African film, Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People.
I walked into the cinema fairly ignorant of the phenomenon and following of evangelist Angus Buchan. I had heard about the positivity surrounding his work but knew little of the immense reach and pull worldwide that he has – to quote the publicity material - “ through his Mighty Men Conferences and by a philosophy of simply believing God's Word, he has directly impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people” .
This film takes you on a journey through the lives of three such men.
Ordinary People begins with a brief story of the life of Angus Buchan and how he became who he is today, from a simple potato farmer to world-renowned evangelist. Thereafter, we are given insight into the lives of three different groups of men who attended his 2010 Mighty Men Conference.
There’s Andre (Jaco Muller), a young man who is an alcoholic and appears to be wasting his life away. John Peters (Anton Dekker) is struggling to maintain his relationships with his family and friends, and Lucky Nzimande (Lucky Khoza) a criminal who attempts to highjack an ex-Special Force policeman, Hermann Visser (Robin Smith) en-route to the Mighty Men Conference in Greytown.
What is truly special about this film is that it is based on actual events. Each of these men were deeply troubled and needed some sort of salvation and now their ordinary lives will most probably help in transforming the lives of others. The cast and crew who attended the screening were in themselves inspirational. They have such faith and belief in God and their film. Director FC Hamman said that he did not feel that he alone was directing the film and that there was constantly God’s presence among them during filming.
As a South African, it’s always exciting for me to see local landscapes draped across the big screen and the film does contain beautiful South African scenery. We really are blessed. I enjoyed the music and background score as well, it was a nice treat to see Durban-born musician Kreesan’s name amongst the credits.
I do think the script could have been edited. There were moments that just needed polishing and tweaking. The lead actors have to be commended; they did well in recreating these real-life stories. Audience members will recognise quite a few of the actors from local television shows. I thought the supporting cast of David James, Charles Bouguenon, Steve Larter and others were just as strong in their portrayals.
The highlight of the film for me was the snippet shown of Angus Buchan’s Mighty Men Conference. Just those few moments are enough to show the audience how inspiring and motivating he is as he preaches Gods Word. Angus Buchan ended an interview by saying : “Success is failure turned inside out, that’s why the Lord takes nobodies, Ordinary People like you and me, broken down old potato farmer and He uses us in amazing ways. He gives us new lives, He gives us new opportunities and folks if He can do it to these men that you have seen in the movie, He can do it for you and me.”
Granted this film may not appeal to everyone. However, Christian or not, believer or not, if you watch a film with an open mind there is no reason to not be touched by the art, passion and blessings that went in to the making of Angus Buchan’s Ordinary People. Now screening at Ster Kinekor Gateway. – Raeesa Abdul-Karrim
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