Child of God is a very interesting portrait of a human being pushed to the outskirts of society and left desperate for a sense of connection. His inhuman actions are pitted against his very human emotions: loneliness, fear, longing. The film is based on a book of the same name by the writer Cormac MacCarthy and was directed by one of his fans, James Franco. It is Franco’s 11th feature length film as a director and showcases his burgeoning talent as a visual storyteller.
The film shines with a staggering performance from Scott Haze who commands a very compelling performance on the screen. His bravery as an actor animates the film with a raw energy. In the press conference he revealed that in preparation he spent three months isolated in a forest. His experiences of the wilderness there inspired him to bring some very effective animalistic movements and traits to the character’s voice and gait/facial expressions. The result is a primal rendering of a very stifled human being, starved of warmth, which not only evokes the audience’s horror but also their compassion.
Of his collaboration with Franco, he said that it was no less than a privilege to work alongside a real actor’s director. He always felt that he was safe and in good hands. This trust made the sometimes difficult filming process much easier to get through.
The music in the film was sparse but well thought out. It provided the audience with two perspectives; that of Lester - his innocence and joy in the creation of a little world for himself in the wilderness, and that of a normal, well-socialised person who can see the horror of his actions. This contrast manifested itself in the two composition styles used to create the score. The first being Country music and the second being electronic sound effect like passages. For the Country -styled sections Franco hired a band named “The Hell for Certain String Band” which was local to the area in which they were filming. The sound is very authentic and helps maintain a sense of place in the film given that much of the action takes part in a nondescript forest.
Overall I found the film to be a very interesting viewing experience, although some parts were hard to stomach.23/30