STOP THE POUNDING HEART *****
Faith is the power of belief without seeing; it’s the hope and expectation for the divine and the eternal; it’s a commitment with the Creator, the assurance of existence and the greatest motivation one can hold on to. God gave each one of us the opportunity to experience everything he created, and also the right to choose our own perspective on the meaning of life. Modernity has been battling with God’s values, expressed on His Holy Book, the Bible, overwhelming society with so many distractions, causing the complete ignorance of many souls when it comes to the rules to live by. Director Roberto Minervini puts his camera around a farm in Texas, as he observes a family of Christian farmers devoted to their faith and the Sacred Words of Jesus Christ, and the community of ordinary folks around them. He centers the narrative with a contemplative and deep look on Sara, the teenager daughter who’s dealing with her coming-of-age phase, delving into doubts, anxiety and conflicts as she steps further into maturity. The family keeps themselves busy, with a herd of goats, from which they earn their bread, selling milk and cheese in community markets. Sara is dedicated to her family tasks, taking care of the house, helping her mother raise and home school her two younger brothers, and helping dad cultivate the farm and the animals.
Everything seems to be perfect until she meets Colby, a young cowboy, developing a subtly emotional connection. As she carefully listens to her mother’s advises and instructions, regarding moral virtues and integrity, such as certain procedures to preserve the importance of finding the right soulmate, the director spreads her emotions on the screen, just by focusing the camera in her eyes covered with uneasiness: Sara is happy with her faith and life-style but it’s obvious she’s experiencing the troubles of her generation and the battle between her desires, her hormones and her relationship with God. She finds shelter under her mother’s arms, inhaling a powerful prayer, as she’s willing to calm the temper and discomfort of her heart. Minervini captured a striking and revelatory examination on human spiritual devotion and dependence, creating a tour-de-force documentary about the power of faith, the importance of prayer, the resistance and perseverance of those committed to be part of Eternity, and mostly offering a self-analysis about how faithful and honest we are to ourselves and to the fact of recognizing the source of every breath we take. (On DVD by Big World Pictures. Also Available on Amazon)
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