In Hebrew, the word Gibbowr (ghib-bore��) meant Mighty Man, the strongest, most valiant champion. The heroes were called Gibbowr and they were unstoppable. Gibbowr was almost always associated with the word Chyill or valour. Over time Gibbowr was shortened to Gibbor��.mighty man of valour. When King David went to war, he surrounded himself with an inner guard of Mighty Men.Once in a great while you can still see a ��Mighty Man�� rise up today, determined to achieve his goal no matter what the challenge, no matter what the sacrifice. The Christian Film & Television Excellence Society believes Mr. Robert Duvall to be just such a man.
Robert Duvall wrote The Apostle, the story of a Pentecostal preacher living through a personal crisis and the consequences of his own reactions to it. It is not the story of a perfect man, but of a man who needs grace and forgiveness. It is real life Christianity. We walk, we fall, we get back up. God forgives us and we start again.
For years, Mr. Duvall tried to get Hollywood to produce his screenplay. Finally, Duvall decided to produce the project himself and sought funding sources. There were none. At great personal sacrifice, Robert Duvall mortgaged his home for $5,000,000 and filmed The Apostle.
Steve Rhodes writes, ��THE APOSTLE, which Robert Duvall has wanted to make for over a decade, does not take the usual tack of smearing the minister, and by implication, all the rest of organized religion. Instead it gives us a highly devout man, who certainly has his foibles, but with an absolute dedication to his ministry and his God.��
An except from A Film Review by James Berardinelli ��For Robert Duvall, The Apostle was a labor of love. It is said that every man or woman has at least one story to tell; this is Duvall��s. The film was in the making for over a decade, and, when no studio bought into it, Duvall put up the money himself. The actor filled nearly every role imaginable on this production - in addition to financing it, he starred in it, directed it, executive produced it, and wrote it. In his cross-country publicity tour to generate interest in the picture, he has been both eloquent and passionate when discussing what this film means to him. For Duvall, The Apostle is not just a movie, it is the movie.
A relatively simple tale about a far-from-simple character, The Apostle never falters in its portrayal of Euliss ��Sonny�� Dewey (Duvall) as a real, flesh-and-blood human being. Unlike many movies that deal with religion and religious figures, The Apostle does not set out to uncover corruption and hypocrisy or to attack deeply-held beliefs. It does not patronize or satirize. It is respectful without being reverential. The Apostle is a character study, and, like all motion pictures of this sort, its ultimate success depends upon how compelling the protagonist is. As essayed by Duvall, arguably one of America��s ten-best living actors, Sonny is the kind of complex individual we could watch for hours on end without ever losing interest. ��
Roger Ebert said, ��Sonny is different from most movie preachers. He��s not a fraud, for one thing; Hollywood tilts toward the Elmer Gantry stereotype. Sonny has a one-on-one relationship with God.��
Robert Duvall was committed to making The Apostle. From pen to screen, the project took 20 years. Duvall never wavered; he never compromised. He literally ��bet the ranch�� on the project. For such heroism, we proclaim Robert Duvall to be a Mighty Man of Valour and present him with our first ever Gibbowr Award because even the title of the award was inspired by his achievement.