Movies inspired by the life, trial, death (and sometimes resurrection) of Jesus Christ are a difficult cinematic genre. The events that took place in Judea in the year 30 (or 33 according to other historians) are described by the most famous book in human history, but the historical accuracy of the account in the Gospels is itself controversial. Each of the major directors who have tackled the subject in recent decades have seen their films enjoy success with audiences, but also criticized, sometimes by the church, sometimes by various interest groups, and in extreme cases even boycotted. Jesus continues to fascinate and generate passion when it comes to his reflection in art. A few hundred years ago, the great Renaissance master painters were confronted with its representation in images. In the last century, cinematographers took their place. Among them was Pier Paolo Pasolini, whose ‘The Gospel According to St. Matthew‘ (‘Il vangelo secondo Matteo‘) from 1964 I saw yesterday evening in a Pasolini retrospective at the local cinematheque. Paradoxically, it was this controversial director, for whom almost every other film was a scandal, who made a version of the life of Jesus that is considered almost canonical, being accepted by the majority of Christian believers, and even receiving several awards at film festivals including some awarded by Christian institutions. Viewers will notice that the film is made by an atheist Marxist, but also by a great filmmaker, who imposed his artistic and political vision and was at the same time respectful of the material from which he started – the Gospel according to Matthew.
Imagine that a documentary film crew had accompanied the earthly trajectory of Jesus from the moment of the Annunciation of his arrival until after the Resurrection. This is the style that Pasolini created to reproduce the events. The main source is the Gospel of Matthew and Pasolini can be said to be faithful both to its letter by using the text for sermons, dialogues and off-line comments and to its spirit by rendering the facts through the prism of Matthew’s vision, including problematic aspects today in historical perspective such as the role Jews in the condemnation and death of Jesus. Was Pasolini ideologically associated with the biblical message? Probably not, his subsequent films and positions prove that he remained true to his Marxist and atheistic principles. His talent, however, was put at the service of the biblical vision. The image has extraordinary expressiveness. Shots that can be considered to be inspired by Renaissance paintings alternate with table scenes and long shots shot with the mobile camera in the style of the French New Wave. As a setting for the drama taking place in Jerusalem, Galilee and the Judean desert, Pasolini chose to use the poor southern Italy of the time, in the province of Calibria. The mountain villages of this region naturally and unobtrusively represent Jerusalem and the other cities where the drama of the New Testament takes place. His actors are amateurs and the imagery using local residents gives extra authenticity. Only the costumes strike a somewhat dissonant note, but that effect is probably intentional as well (especially in the opera-like costumes of the Temple priests). A special section is dedicated to the sermons, which are filmed in the style of a 20th century election campaign. Political vision, since the interpretation of Jesus as a Marxist forerunner was one of the elements that Pasolini wanted clearly promoted.
Pasolini chose for the lead role Enrique Irazoqui, a young amateur actor with a Mediterranean physiognomy, breaking the Northern and Central European canon that dominates representations of Jesus in the visual arts. Very interesting and appropriate are the two actresses who play the Holy Virgin. The young Margherita Caruso has the physiognomy and attitudes of the Renaissance Madonnas while in the role of the elderly Holy Mary Pasolini cast his mother, Susanna Pasolini (Maia Morgenstern played this role decades later in Mel Gibson‘s film). The combination works great, telling a lot about both the biblical story and Pasolini’s contemporary Calibria. This approach has inspired many directors who have followed him, including Milo Rau in his 2020 film ‘The New Gospel‘ in which a large part of the secondary roles and figures are performed by migrants. Pasolini was undoubtedly a path-opener. The life of Jesus continues to be alive as a subject in the attention of artists, including filmmakers. ‘The Gospel According to St. Matthew‘ eschews superficial controversies, including, for example, much less graphic violence than the films that followed it. However, the contradictions exist and are even deeper.