Depending on the viewer’s perception, ‘Don Verdean’ is the kind of movie, that can be perceived as either sincere or satirical… or somewhat both at the same time. Verdean is a fictitious freelance archaeologist and writer, who seemed somewhat motivated by ‘much’ faith to discover artefacts as hard evidence, to prove the reality of the events recorded in his faith’s scriptures. However, portrayed as a ‘well-known unknown’, he keeps us guessing, as to whether he is the real deal, capable of truly proving anything or not, including himself.
As the film progresses, with his dwindling popularity and lack of support by congregations of his faith, he becomes increasingly desperate to stay afloat – to prove himself more than his beliefs. This is when the quest for spiritual truth drifts ever more astray, to ‘merge’ with the quest for personal worldly success… in the guise of being for the good of the masses, when it is mainly for his own good. In the bid to prove his faith’s truthfulness, he proved his lack of faith in the value of truthfulness, thus betraying himself and its teachings.
The story shows how lines can be easily and seriously, even if also comically blurred. In the name of good faith, eager preachers can succumb to bad faith. Perhaps this is critique on the irony of how some of the ‘super religious’ who turn out to be cheats are actually super irreligious in secret. Perhaps, as portrayed in the case of Verdean, some had good intentions at first. However, with insufficient faith mixed with conflicting enthusiasm to more sufficiently share their faith, things spin out of control. Add the ‘right’ mix of equally, if not more eager ‘faithful’ supporters, and one eventually becomes a ‘Don Verdean’.
