The Harvesters (2018)

• Year: 2018
• Released: 13 Sep 2019
• Country: South Africa, France, Greece, Poland
• Adwords: 1 win & 11 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8144850/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_harvesters
• Metacritics:
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: Afrikaans, English
• MPA Rating: TV-MA
• Genre: Drama
• Runtime: 102 min
• Writer: Etienne Kallos
• Director: Etienne Kallos
• Cast: Brent Vermeulen, Alex van Dyk, Juliana Venter
• Keywords: adoption, coming of age, afrikaans, religion, prostitution, recovering addict,

	6.5/10
	false% – Audience

The Harvesters Storyline

Living in a conservative and isolated territory in South Africa, obsessed with strength and masculinity, Janno is different, secretive, emotionally frail. One day his religious mother brings home Pieter, a street orphan she wants to save. The two start a fight for power, heritage, and parental love.—yusufpiskin

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The Harvesters Movie Reviews

Powerful Yet Bleak Storytelling.

Just finished watching this very powerful portrayal of a deeply religious and conservative Afrikaans farming family in the Free State region of South Africa who take in a drug using street kid played immensely well by Alex Van Dyk. In fact, he, and the young lead Brent Vermeulen (who plays the family’s only son Janno) were both outstanding in this film. And I believe this was their first film roles? The acting from all the main characters was superb, as was the script and direction from Etienne Kallos. A special mention must be made of the sublime scenery in that part of South Africa. I gave this 8 stars (instead of 10) for two reasons. At times I did find it quite slow moving, especially given the length of the film, and secondly, despite the overall high quality as I outlined, I found it a quite depressing and bleak story that left me reaching for a block of chocolate at the end.

Through a Glass Darkly

***** Spoilers ahead***** This film centers around a small Afrikaner farming family in a tight knit religious community, and the conflicts between their 2 sons, 1 a recently adopted orphan. 1 appears to be deeply closeted, and the other straight, & on the surface homophobic yet goes with older men for money.

Although this film is depressing, it is interesting and provocative. Discussing afterwards with friends and hearing their different takes is particularly interesting, because there is a lot going on here, much understated, or unsaid. Major theme portrayed but not verbalized is post-apartheid life for Afrikaners in S. Africa. Another major theme for the most part understated is homophobia, and misogyny.

DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT: At the tail end, the older son walks into a brush fire they are all supposed to be fighting. Was this just another gay suicide? Yikes, in 2019! Or did he simply use the fire as cover to run away.? A woman consoling the mother, tells here ‘he may come back’. So, i’m hoping it was the latter.

Very difficult to understand

I think the movie is quite cryptic. I’m not talking about the background, because you can easily get most of the characteristics of the community; of course it will be much more understandable for those who know the Afrikaners’ situation, but some main points, as the intense religiousness or the will of keeping black people apart, are quite clear anyway. The plot is the cryptic element, because in the end you really can’t understand exactly why everything is happened. In fact, you cannot but imagine Janno’s feelings, for instance. You understand that he is probably homosexual and that he is aware that this would not be accepted by his community, but it is all very vague and, i dare say, not deepened by the movie. Janno’s jalousy regarding Pieter is another theme which, while perceivable, is not clearly analyzed. The end therefore seems a bit too much: Janno, as far as we can understand, has run away, but you cannot really explain his choice (it can be that he wants to seek a different community, but this is all spectator’s speculation) and therefore it seems a bit of a forced ending. Apart from his homosexuality, did he feel unapted for the farm working? Sometimes it is hinted, but again it is quite unclear, and in Janno’s parents behaviour towards him you cannot really see anything that shows a deep disappointment for their son. Janno seems actually to make all by himself: was then his insecurity the real cause of his escape? I think that it’s fine if a movie doesn’t give all the explanations, but when there are such incomprehensible links cause-effect or feeling-behaviour the plot really seems forced. It is a pity because the unusual setting and the peculiarities of Janno’s community are really good bases and the plot premises could be fruitful indeed. Anyway, it is a movie very pleasing to see, because it has a very nice, warm yet dark, melancholic photography; landscapes and rooms quite catch your interest. Actors’ performances were really impressive, expecially regarding Janno and Pieter. The harvest shots are marvellous.