While this easily could be confused as a blaxploitation film (which it could be called to an extent), it's more of a social drama that deals with the issues of faith that occur when something happens in a character's religion that turns them against it. It certainly no accident that a young man is drowned in an attempted baptism against his will, and that causes his girlfriend (Avis MacArthur) to run away which brings a reality to the emotionally distraught mother (Marlene Clark) about some of the shams in the system of her church. She turns back to some of the old time African traditions which have native rituals within them that are far from Christian.
While this is not a film I really understood, I did find it interesting even though at times it was difficult to watch. There are definite elements of tragedy in this, and I could see this being done as an opera. The performances, particularly by the two women I mentioned, are very good, but that isn't enough to turn this into something that mainstream audiences could enjoy. Certainly even black audiences might find its anti-Christian themes distasteful even though it isn't expressing a point of view for or against although the filter that turns one of the characters bright red did have me rolling my eyes a bit. This is a film that you just accept for what it is, maybe a bit exploitive in emotion but one that was probably a bit too out there for its own good.
While this is not a film I really understood, I did find it interesting even though at times it was difficult to watch. There are definite elements of tragedy in this, and I could see this being done as an opera. The performances, particularly by the two women I mentioned, are very good, but that isn't enough to turn this into something that mainstream audiences could enjoy. Certainly even black audiences might find its anti-Christian themes distasteful even though it isn't expressing a point of view for or against although the filter that turns one of the characters bright red did have me rolling my eyes a bit. This is a film that you just accept for what it is, maybe a bit exploitive in emotion but one that was probably a bit too out there for its own good.