Sundance 202X Day 3: The Ballad of Bööls Jorgaan
…this reviewer did not have high hopes for Adam Driver's big-screen biopic of the 19th century Dutch missionary, Bööls Jorgaan. There's no doubting Drivers' passion for his historical subject; after all, he shocked the nation by revealing that he'd gone back to school with his Star Wars money to pursue a graduate degree in the study of this man's life.
However, such passion did not extend to the quality of the screenplay first-time screenwriter Driver has provided. The film is, yes, intensely beautiful. Shot on location in Indonesia, the cinematography, production design, and costume design is top-notch. But the characters that live within this world are as wooden as a pair of kloppen.
Despite writer/director/star Adam Driver's charisma and unconventional good looks, Bööls Jorgaan himself is a difficult character to empathize with or even care about. In the year of our Lord 202X, one expects the story of a white missionary visiting Indonesia to be nuanced. Despite the lavish amount of historical research (especially into the lives of the indigenous characters) and willingness to embrace history in all its filthiness, the story at the heart of this film remains hopelessly dated and, by modern standards, uninteresting.
The supporting cast is excellent, but the secondary male lead, whose incandescent chemistry with Driver threatens to make the film interesting, is disposed of as soon as a love triangle is introduced, seemingly to try and make Bööls Jorgaan seem cool and hot. It is a failed attempt.
While I hope to see more from the wickedly talented Driver, I would recommend that my audience give The Ballad of Bööls Jorgaan a pass.