"Go Tell It on the Mountain," a 1984 film that sat on my shelf for many a year before I decided to watch it and realized that it represents the lowest genre of cinema: the cheap made-for-television film. There are few redeeming qualities to be found in "Go Tell It on the Mountain."
The film follows young John Grimes in the days leading up to his 14th birthday, where he will have a series of epiphanies – some more overt than others – that will help shape not just him but others nearest to him.
His father is a deacon at The Temple of the Fire Baptized, a supposedly converted store with a depressingly dark hue of green marking its outside. John lives in post-renaissance and pre-mafia Harlem. The people at the church aren't very likable; they seem indifferent to the world around them, have a transparent trust in the god they serve, and seem to attend services primarily to gossip about the community's apparent incestuousness.
Florence (Rosalind Cash), John's aunt and one of the three authentic characters in the book, never goes to church. Roy (Kadeem Hardison), John's brother who has all but abandoned his religion, is still a genuine character, though his penchant for picking fights on the street makes him far less noble than Florence. Elisha (Giancarlo Esposito), the final real character, is found in the church. In the film, he seems to be the only true believer. I say this because John's boss, Gabriel (played by the then-unknown Ving Rhames in flashbacks to his youth and Paul Winfield in the present day), is so strict and overbearing at home that it's difficult to believe he's anything other than a hypocrite who loves the publicity the pulpit brings him. He's described as "hard and cold" by John, and that pretty much sums it up.
John is stuck in the middle. On the one side, he should follow Florence's lead and live a dignified yet non-religious life. On the other side, he might follow in his brother's footsteps and head to the streets, where there are no hypocrites or secrets to be found. Finally, he should go to church and follow Elisha's example of seeing life through religion, regardless of who is present in the sanctuary.
The film isn't particularly visually pleasing. The colors are all as bland and monotonous as the church's green paint. Stained glass tiles frame the film's title in the opening scene, but even those are bland. Nonetheless, this acts as a metaphor for the film itself, in an unintentional way: predictable and repetitive.
Gabriel is perhaps the dullest character in the film. His character is so one-dimensionally bad that watching him yell at his relatives and use the church for self-promotion. The filmmakers have no explanation for why he is the way he is, nor any clues, implicit or obvious, that he has a golden heart hidden inside him.
Similarly, the storyline is unquestionably the film's most significant flaw. While Baldwin's book holds up well in print, it had no business being adapted for the screen, especially in a movie with such low production values. John's birthday and eventual self-discovery events are never fully taken from the book and translated into the film's three dimensions. Most of the film is narrated, and what is played out never quite retains the vigor necessary to pique the audience's interest. The movie is more akin to a book on tape than something that needs actors. "One of these days, I am going to impress you," John says at one point. Unfortunately, the only surprises are the lack of reverence for Baldwin's work and the fragile filming style.
