Il Vangelo secondo Matteo (1964)
Genre: Drama / Biography
Duration: 137 minuten
Alternative titles: The Gospel according to St. Matthew / The Gospel according to Matthew / Het Evangelie volgens Matteüs
Country:
Italy / France
Directed by: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Stars: Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso and Susanna Pasolini
IMDb score:
7,6 (15.168)
Releasedate: 3 March 1965
Il Vangelo secondo Matteo plot
"A Motion Picture which will be seen by the entire world - up to the end of the world!"
This film shows the life of Jesus Christ as recorded by the evangelist Matthew. Pasolini used only literal Bible texts. Thus the story of Jesus is followed from beginning to end: his birth, the appearance of John the Baptist, the temptation in the desert, the speeches and miracles that Jesus performed, the crucifixion and finally the resurrection.
Actors and actresses
Cristo
Maria (Giovane)
Maria (Vecchia)
Giuseppe
Giovanni Battista
Pietro
Andrea
Giacomo
Giovanni
Filippo
Reviews & comments
Sir Djuke
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- 385 messages
- 1070 votes
Pasolini was a Marxist, gay and writer of provocative literature. Not exactly the director who seems to be the first to qualify to film the life of Jesus. Still, this is the best Bible movie ever. Pasolini follows the text of Matthew to the letter and above all emphasizes the ordinariness of the Messiah. The film is genuinely compelling and lacks the utter ridiculousness of George Stevens' The Greatest Story Ever Told, which appeared a year later. The number of ti-ta wizard scenes is kept to a minimum with Pasolini: a short walk on the water and little bread and fish becomes a lot of bread and fish. As a result, the political impact of Jesus in Roman-occupied Palestine receives more attention.
Translated from Dutch · View original
mjk87 (moderator films)
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- 14760 messages
- 4631 votes
I don't think the first three gospels are great literature (John, by the way). Just like the entire Bible, it is very rich because of the many stories and wisdom, but not a good book. Such a moment when Christ sees the fishermen and commands them to follow and they do so immediately - it reads like a long summary without inspiration. Matthew is no exception.
This film is a very faithful film adaptation. So I didn't expect an in-depth masterpiece, but Passolini gets everything out of it. Decent photography with a lot of close-ups and medium close-ups, so that the medium of film still has added value and this work is stylistically a bit different than usual. The locations in southern Italy seem credible, although black and white will play a role. The music is also very nice with a somewhat slow version of Wir setzen uns mit Tränen nieder that fits well with this sober version. However, I found both that song and Erbarme dich a bit too often and it became a bit monotonous. But as a whole it is still a well-lived film that is much better than the source material. 3.5*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Brandt
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- 364 messages
- 293 votes
Because I recently Mother! by Darren Aranofski I suddenly thought of this Pasolini classic. Incomparable films of course, but both very intense. It's been a long time since I've seen this movie, but in my memory it's a masterpiece.
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