{"id":11022,"date":"2022-09-06T09:09:13","date_gmt":"2022-09-06T09:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/?p=11022"},"modified":"2022-09-06T09:09:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T09:09:13","slug":"man-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/man-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Man of God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><b>Saint Nectarios of Aegina is one of the most renowned Greek saints, but probably little-known elsewhere. It\u2019s time that changed, says <\/b><i>Sorted\u2019s<\/i><b> Andy Godfrey.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><b>BYLINE: TALKING PICTURES ANDY GODFREY<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p2\"><b>Beautifully acted, shot and directed, this inspirational and compelling biopic tells a story that I didn\u2019t know, but I\u2019m glad I do now.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><i>Man of God<\/i> brings to life the incredible true story of Saint Nectarios of Aegina (1846\u20131920), a man worth hearing about. Canonised in 1961, his place in history should now be more widely recognised.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\">This is a film which makes you realise how easily the Church can become embroiled in politics and scandal, and that corruption can creep into the highest places in religion. Played by Greek actor Aris Servatalis, who mainly speaks English throughout, Nectarios was exiled from Egypt by the Orthodox Church leaders for the crime of being \u2013 frankly \u2013 too good. He was unwilling to engage with the politics of the day and to compromise his position in order for personal advancement. He wound up working as a priest on the small Greek island of Aegina. Even here he was faced with persecution and misunderstanding due to the way he conducted himself and his ministry.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11028 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-1024x684.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-2048x1367.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_pic1-600x401.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">IN THE WILDERNESS: Aris Servatalis and Alexander Petrov \u2013 and friends<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">It was here that he became a veritable local legend. He went out of his way to help provide for the poor, taught young people to read, set up a nunnery and had various miracles attributed to him \u2013 including the healing of a lame man, played by Micky Rourke.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-11029 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-1024x684.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"684\" srcset=\"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-1024x684.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-1536x1025.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-2048x1367.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_image2-600x401.jpeg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">ROURKE\u2019S DRIFT: \u201cHoly man of God, will you please pray for me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The story \u2013 as it unfolds \u2013 is a deeply moving one of a man who was totally and utterly committed to the \u2018way of Jesus\u2019 and had total and utter faith in God to provide for all his needs. His faith, as portrayed here, is so strong that he would begin projects and seek to help people before the necessary resources were available. He simply trusted that God would give him what he needed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The film is shot in black and white, and the stark photography brings the compelling story to life in vivid detail. The performances are all top-notch and Russian writer-director Yelena Popovich makes it hard to take your eyes off the screen as we are immersed in the world of 19<sup>th <\/sup>century Greece. A lovely, understated score accompanies our central character as he fights battle after battle to maintain his reputation and ministry.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This is a wonderful film that demands to be seen and I would urge you to seek it out. A remarkable account of a remarkable man who achieved remarkable things and was eventually \u2013 long after his death \u2013 finally recognized for being the saint he was.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Saint Nectarios of Aegina is one of the most renowned Greek saints, but probably little-known elsewhere. It\u2019s time that changed, says Sorted\u2019s Andy Godfrey. &nbsp; BYLINE: TALKING PICTURES ANDY GODFREY Beautifully acted, shot and directed, this inspirational and compelling biopic tells a story that I didn\u2019t know, but I\u2019m glad I do now.&nbsp; Man of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":661,"featured_media":11023,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1540,1546,1790],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-slideshow","category-homepage","category-film"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2022\/09\/ManofGod_header_image-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/661"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11022"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11032,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11022\/revisions\/11032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runyourownwebsite.uk\/sorted\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}