"Healing and Self-Discovery"
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What You Need To Know:
TORNADO is a refreshingly different story of a journey of healing and self-discovery. The logistical complications of filming in a remote wilderness were a great challenge. Animal lovers will particularly delight in this insightful and sensitive film. Although the Gospel is not explicitly presented, TORNADO clearly focuses on the Bible and the cross in places, and the movie prominently celebrates God’s Creation and healing Hand.
Content:
(CC, BBB, V, A) Very Christian worldview with very strong moral elements, including prayers answered; no foul language; light, mostly implied violence includes man cuts wrists (not seen), hits mirror (not seen), hits wall, and some injuries depicted on horse from self-mutilation syndrome; no sex; some upper male nudity when male athletes wear towels around waste in locker room; some alcohol consumption in a bar scene; no smoking or drugs; and, nothing else objectionable.
More Detail:
TORNADO tells the true-life story of Pierre, a depressed and broken young man, and Tornado, an emotionally tormented horse. As the Director, Regardt van den Bergh said, “This film is about broken people, I believe we are all broken, and we could all do with some healing.”
Pierre van Rooyen was raised on a farm amongst cattle and horses. From an early age he displayed an exceptional talent for long distance running and at school broke one athletics record after the other. However, when he begins to experience extreme pain in his ankles, doctors diagnose him with rheumatoid arthritis, meaning that his running days are over. This is devastating to the young boy and he battles with depression.
In university, Pierre changes his Agricultural degree to Theology, and then to Equine studies. During the practical part of his Equine studies, he meets up with Tornado, a young Arab stallion with self-mutilation syndrome. Pierre identifies with this tormented horse and gains permission from the owner and the lecturers to include Tornado’s emotional therapy in his studies.
Hearing of a Christian horse whisperer in the Kalahari Dessert, Pierre makes contact with Barry Burger and travels to Noenieput in the vast wilderness of the Kalahari to see if this eccentric missionary can rehabilitate Tornado.
Barry Burger started Kalahari Missions in 1985 using horses as his primary method of transport to reach the lonely and isolated people of the desert. In his over 20 years of constant and intimate relationships with horses, Barry Burger became an expert in methods of communication with these silent creatures. As Pierre found, Barry’s extraordinary ability to work with difficult horses was astounding.
TORNADO is a refreshingly different story of a journey of healing and self-discovery. The logistical complications of filming in such a remote wilderness must have been a great challenge.
Director Regardt van den Bergh has won awards for producing true-life stories such as THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHE and FAITH LIKE POTATOES. He also recently produced the excellent Christian film HANSIE.
Animal lovers will particularly delight in this insightful and sensitive film about the Arab stallion, Tornado.
For numerous of the key riding scenes, the actual characters on whom the story is based doubled for the actors. Lean van den Bergh, the daughter of the director, makes a very talented screen debut in this film.
Although the Gospel is not explicitly presented, the movie does clearly focus on the Bible and the cross in places, and God’s Creation and healing Hand are prominently celebrated. This is a refreshingly different film. It deserves to be supported, and please pray for its success.
