Almost Holy

In "Almost Holy" we follow Ukraine Pastor, Gennadiy Mokhnenko, as he works according to his own sense of what is holy and what is not. He inspires us with his charismatic personality and passion for saving lives and souls from the living hell of alcohol and drug addiction, especially for the very young and vulnerable among us. While I am grateful to the filmmakers for bringing the material to us, the fragmented editing and repeated close shots that never showed where we were and what was going on left me wishing someone else had been in charge.

I gave it a high 8 stars because it is still an informative, inspiring and thought provoking look at a part of our world we know too little about.

Crocodile Gennadiy is a character driven documentary, and boy did they pick one hell of a character. The titular Crocodile Gennadiy is clearly a man who enjoys being on camera and knows how to carry himself in front of one. The subject matter of this film is not for the faint of heart, and contains some dark imagery, but it's a darkness that Gennadiy helps you navigate through. You see this hell he lives in and how he copes with it, you really begin to admire him, despite the fact that his actions frequently walk the line between humanitarianism and vigilantism. And on top of this all the film team did an amazing job capturing this man and his environment, the cinematography is top notch essentially creating a "beautiful hell" in the same vein as other great documentaries like Detropia and The Act of Killing.

But that last point is the one thing holding me back from a perfect rating. It's a bit TOO much in the style of other great docs to come out recently. It's a lovely style no doubt, but it'd be nice to some work try and slip away from it a bit into either new territory or old territory that has been abandoned.

Gennadiy is a Pastor in Mariupol, Ukraine. He started a Mission to save the street kids from drugs, alcohol and the horrors that the streets hold in the post communism reality of the erstwhile Soviet State. Often being referred to as a vigilante as he is not afraid to let God speak through his fists if so needed.

He has attained a fame or notoriety but as the film unfolds you can see that he has saved so many people who were without hope until he turned up. They use archive footage and TV appearances to tell the back stories of him and the kids of whom he has adopted over 30 as they had no one and his wife has to be a saint too.

It documents the ups and many downs and the ensuing war when Russia rocks up. This is inspirational stuff but it is also disheartening when you see some of the not so successful outcomes. As a documentary though it is incredibly watchable and so I can easily recommend.

There are two realities we usually don't think about a lot. The first one is deprived part of a subculture where drugs and violence occur regularly. The other one is a scope where some individuals and groups give themselves for the sake of others.

All of this is nicely portrayed in this film. Steve Hoover balances portrayals of rock bottom of our society and endearment throughout the movie.

Mokhenko (Pastor Crocodile) is probably not going to be liked by some people. He is a tough guy vigorously pursuing his kind goal. Nevertheless, he is a charismatic leader capable to inspire the you.

I would've given a better grade if the movie were half an hour shorter. Documentary should provide just enough insight to some topic; not attempt to develop a plot no matter what.