Published in: Indie Film Reviews

Indie Film Review “The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story”

Author OneFilmFan

Published on: February 1, 2019

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

First, the Recap:

The anatomy of compassion and the potency of exoneration. Do we not tend to find ourselves leaping before we look, assuming before studying, forming opinion without actually being informed? The notions we have in our minds when something around us defies our standard beliefs or pre-formulated logic, the dismissive state we take on can so often lead us away from what really matters–the truth. It is 1999, and in the State of Orissa (now Odisha) arrives a young man named Manav Banerjee (Sharman Joshi) and his pregnant wife Shanti (Aditi Chengappa). Struggling to make ends meet as it is, and with a baby on the way, Manav, a journalist, seeks out what meager opportunities might await him job-wise at a local village newspaper.

However, his immediate boss, Kedar Mishra (Prakash Belawadi), has but one request and assignment for his eager, potentially new employee–discredit, via research and providing solid proof, the ministrations to and “conversions” of leprosy-stricken patients by a local Australian missionary named Graham Staines (Stephen Baldwin) are being conducted illegally. Uncertain at first but ultimately willing to take on his task out of sheer desperation and financial need, Manav sets out to collect evidence and corroborate everyone’s suspicions. Yet, the more Manav digs into Stains’ life, interacting with him on multiple instances, the shadows of doubt about the accusations the powers that be have about it all begin to creep in, leaving Manav warily skeptical but undeniably curious.

Soon, all that remains is seeing whether the inner war Manav faces and the subsequent choices he makes will bring actual facts to light, or have far more devastating ramifications.

Next, my Mind:

The deconstruction of healing kindness, the wholeness of unconditional love, the bitter reality of hate, and the soul-stirring explorations of unwavering faith, deep-seeded speculation, overt injustice, and acceptance of events that truly go beyond human explanation are all concepts brought to bear in this highly moving, emotive, true story-based feature film from director/producer Aneesh Daniel and writer Andrew E. Matthews. Executed with the completely character-driven, straightforward, quietly yet dynamically changing manner that drives the independent film community to the successes it consistently manifests, for this critic anyway, the pacing here allows the viewer to remain immersed in a very moving and engaging narrative that focuses on the underlying themes of religion and intolerance while not coming across blatantly preachy or pushing a specific theological agenda. Rather, Staines’ Christian faith and Manav’s incisively adamant cynicism about what Staines is doing serve as the foundations for a greater story that frankly should make us sit back and perhaps thoroughly assess our lives when it comes to how we face that which we don’t understand, many times allowing the viewpoints of others to taint our minds and hence make suppositions that could very much be totally incorrect, as is depicted quite firmly and astutely here.

The consequences of these misinterpretations via not seeking truth for ourselves can actually be far-reaching and keenly negative if not re-addressed and curbed, the accomplishing of this entailing a humbling admission of our flawed hypotheses and a willingness to ask for absolution, going against much of what our natural human ego, pride, and stubbornness tries to “advise” us to do. Yet, as we see in a decidedly horrific instance, unchecked anger and prejudice, whether premeditated or unintentionally incited, leads to no good thing unless the afflicted are willing to extend clemency to those who perpetrate it while not dismissing the actuality of justice, and this amazingly impactful idea is presented during the film’s finale, putting quite a heartbreaking yet acutely inspirational exclamation point on the events shown while teaching us all a life lesson that is more than needed in this world today. Amidst these thematic examinations, the additional conceptualizations of the importance of family bonds, supporting one another through any and all strife in order to do what is necessary to provide and serve, deeply caring for those deemed hopeless, untouchable, and insignificant, admitting one’s faults and mistakes to someone you’ve wronged, and having the fortitude to present newly discovered truth in the face of those with less honorable agendas provide the film with its supplementary but no less potent messages, again ideally for maximum effect on the audience watching.

Joshi brings such a wonderfully level-headed, grounded, and sublimely intense performance to the screen in his role as Manav, a young, hard-working “everyman” and journalist who only seeks to obtain and maintain a life for himself and his pregnant wife that will allow them to totally feel settled and fulfilled, especially with their first child coming. His rather frazzled demeanor puts him into a situation with an unscrupulous newspaper editor who only wants to have Manav create a story to expose a supposed fraud doing illegal “conversions” amongst the locals, rather than anything that might actually resemble the truth. Manav’s hesitations about taking the job only get met with less than caring, dismissive reactions, and sheer discouragement and need drive him to accept, sending him on a journey that ends up changing his life forever, and showing him that thinking for oneself and not being influenced by those of ill intent is the higher path to tread. But, the road to get to this place is paved with one particular decision that becomes the catalyst for events to take unanticipated and possibly deadly turns, which weighs upon Manav’s mind and soul as he realizes his error and strives to correct it. It’s a lesson learned by walking through mainly internal pain in order to reach redemption, and Joshi embodies this with a beautiful poise and relatability that makes him believable throughout.

Baldwin has always been, for me, a somewhat unheralded, consummate character actor, and he shows this with his own brand of acting strengths in playing Graham, a long-standing Christian missionary and caretaker of lepers in Orissa, India. Finding himself an unassuming target of Manav, a journalist who is aiming to disprove all the good he has done and is doing by exposing him as a fraud who runs an illegal “conversion” business amongst the poor local villagers, Graham from the very start treats Manav like a human being, accepting him despite his goals of discrediting him, and trying to show him all the allegations thrown his way are not at all true.  But the power in him illustrating this to Manav is accomplished by backing up words with demonstrated actions and acts of kindness that befuddle Manav’s preconceived, and more so planted, ideas about Graham, which then only serve to impact the journalist further and affirm the faith that Graham humbly chooses to live by. The more time Graham spends simply going about his actual business only cements his cause, and the down-to-earth demeanor Baldwin infuses into the character really makes him shine as the normal person Graham truly was while doing extraordinary things by helping and loving others. It makes the film’s pivotal turning point that much more weighty, and Baldwin enacts those moments with great effectiveness.

Primary supporting roles are excellent and delivered through the beautiful and engaging Chengappa as Manav’s wife Shanti, who loves and supports her husband with a definitive conviction that belies her pregnant state of being, even as she remains a voice of stalwart encouragement and understanding to Manav as he stresses over how to provide for her, Belawadi as newspaper editor Kedar Mishra, an utterly heartless and manipulative man whose only goal is to make sure that Staines is painted in the most dastardly light possible while gaining the paper a story to stir the pot and elevate himself while making Manav his fall guy, Shari Rigby as Staines’ wife Gladys, who not only supports her husband’s work with like faith and direct interaction with those he cares for, but is involved with one of the story’s most powerfully poignant moments that will bring you to tears in its gravity and statement about faith, and Manoj Mishra as local village troublemaker Mahendra, who more than creates issues for Manav, then seemingly acts as his friend, before revealing the nature of hatred and anger and how it can consume someone so fully, that there seems to be no coming back from the attitudes and actions that follow when it all boils over.

Additional turns are made by director/producer Daniel as a housing agent, Jyotsna as Deepa, a friend and house help to Manav and Shanti , C. Rakesh as one of Mahendra’s heavies, Bhaskar Shewalkar as Sundar, a former leper, Ramakrishna Shenoy as local police inspector Naveen Sahu, and Phani Eggone as Graham’s right hand help David among many others who make appearances as well. In total, “The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story” stands as a necessary beacon of indie film prowess that elicits the kind of reaction it should with its dramatic messages of love and forgiveness aiming to influence compellingly without forcing the issue while being bold enough to be coolly evocative in a manner made to showcase that it doesn’t take a change in your faith to experience a meaningful change in opinion, heart, and soul towards others and ourselves.

As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!