Film Reviews

Hoover Street Revival

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Hoover Street Revival

An odd but enthralling piece of work, Hoover Street Revival is a documentary about the Greater Bethany Community Church group, located in Watts, South Central, Los Angeles. As anyone familiar with gangsta rap will tell you, South Central is a neighbourhood afflicted with a nasty reputation. But it's here that self-appointed Bishop Noah Jones (who is, incidentally Grace's twin brother) has won a faithful congregation of well over a thousand people. An intensely charismatic preacher, Jones' power of suggestion is vividly illustrated throughout, as is the hypnotic power of his sermons.
Eschewing the traditional documentary staple of infusing the narrative with a voiceover, Fiennes (sister to Ralph and Joseph) takes something of a scattergun approach to her subject. Never speaking to the Bishop off stage, Fiennes uses her camera to simply document the everyday reality for these people and what solace (however meagre) the Greater Bethany Community Church group provides them with. In this regard, the Bishop acts more like a rock star than a traditional cleric (the title of sermons include 'Cancelling my Appointment with the Anti-Christ' and 'Taking the Hustle with Jacob') and his magnetism is electric. The fervour that Jones' inspires may be hyper surreal but by the end of the film - after witnessing the utter hopelessness of the lives of some of his congregation - this eagerness to believe is easier to understand.

Review by Garreth Murphy