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The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1964; 131 mins.
Pier Paulo Pasolini, who got his start
writing scripts for Fellini, kept the paparazzi busy following his
scandal-plagued career as his life and art slid deeper into notoriety until
his own melodramatic end. Yet Pasolini's 1964 life of Christ is a heartfelt
and humble little masterpiece, faithful to the Gospel story and a longtime
critical favorite. The film emerges from the Italian "neo-realist"
tradition, featuring non-professional actors, improvised action, minimalist
design, and a documentary-style: in all, a rough-hewn treatment fit for a
king — that is, fit uniquely for a king who was born in a dank and
weatherworn stable. Pasolini's Gospel features a Marxist's fevered concern
for the struggle of common people against the Powers, a poet's faith and love
of image and detail, and an outcast's inexorable attraction to the Man of
Sorrows. Audiences accustomed to Biblical epics with Hollywood production
values will be either put off or won over and moved deeply by the film's
relentlessly unassuming style. The Gospel According to St. Matthew was
filmed on locations Mel Gibson would revisit in more recent times for his own
Gospel.
See longer review in Flickerings' "Epic Survey of Jesus Films"
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
is part of "The Gospel According to Tax Collectors &
Sinners" track of the Featured Screenings program at Flickerings at Cornerstone Festival,
July 1-4, 2004.See complete Schedule
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