The Other Side of Heaven is about John H. Groberg's experience as a Mormon missionary in the Tongan islands in the 1950s. It is based on the book that he wrote about his experiences, In the Eye of the Storm.
The movie focuses on Groberg's adventurous experiences and trials while serving as a missionary in the South Pacific. While portraying these events, the film discusses little LDS theology, focusing instead on the Mormon missionary experience.
Plot
A young man from Idaho finds himself in a beautiful but dangerous land in the South Pacific as he follows his faith and tries to spread it to others in this adventure-drama, based on a true story. In 1953, John Groberg (Christopher Gorham) is a 19-year-old student at Brigham Young University, whose greatest adventure in life had been to leave home to go to school in Utah. That all changes when Groberg accepts a missionary assignment in the Tonga Islands near Fiji; Groberg is instructed to "build a kingdom" and educate the natives about the faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, even though he knows little of their customs and nothing of their language. Leaving behind his sweetheart, Jean Sabin (Anne Hathaway), Groberg arrives in Tonga and is quickly immersed in the native culture, and strives to teach the Tongans about the teachings of the Latter-Day Saints while trying to respect their cultural traditions and face the joys and struggles of primitive life in the South Pacific alongside them. Groberg makes a valuable ally in Feki (Joe Folau), a Tongan who becomes an avid Latter Day Saint, but he also finds his loyalty to Jean (with whom he's been maintaining a long-distance relationship through cards and letters) tested when a native girl makes her attraction to him quite clear.
Cast
- Christopher Gorham as John Groberg
- Anne Hathaway as Jean Sabin
- Joe Folau as Feki (as Joseph Folau)
- Nathaniel Lees as Kelepi
- Miriama Smith as Lavania
- Alvin Fitisemanu as Tomasi
- Peter Sa'ena-Brown as Kuli
- Whetu Fala as Asi
- Apii McKinley as Noli
- Paki Cherrington as Minister (as Te Paki Cherrington)
- Jeremy Birchall as Edward
- Ross Duncan as John's Father
- Maggie Harper as John's Mother
- Rick Leckinger as Photographer
- Brian Richards as Crowd Member #1
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