The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (1964)

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew (Il vangelo secondo Matteo)
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Written by Pier Paolo Pasolini
1964/Italy/France
Arco Film/Lux Compagnie Cinematographique de France
First viewing/FilmStruck

[box] Christ: Many are called, but few are chosen.[/box]

Pasolini presents a beautiful and bleak vision of the life of a very human Christ.

Though Pasolini is given the writing credit all the spoken dialogue and narration comes directly from the Gospel According to Matthew.  Christ is portrayed as a peasant among the poorest of the poor.  His birth, preaching, miracles, crucifixion and resurrection are all starkly portrayed against the bleakest of landscapes.

The cast is made-up of non-actors.  Jesus is the only one that is really required to do any acting however.  The other characters speak volumes with their haunting faces.  Jesus is a fiery speaker in line with the atheist Pasolini’s contention that he was the world’s greatest revolutionary.  Yet all the supernatural parts of the story, from the virgin birth, through the miracles and resurrection are included as well.  The costuming of the pharisees, etc. took some getting used to for me.  The score is a mix of American Blues and classical music. Recommended.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew was nominated for Academy Awards in the categories of Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White; Best Costume Design, Black-and-White; and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment.

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