The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Italian: Il Vangelo secondo Matteo) is a 1964 Italian film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini.
The dialogue is primarily taken directly from the Gospel, as Pasolini felt that "images could never reach the poetic heights of the text."[1] He reportedly chose the Gospel of Matthew over the others because he had decided that "John was too mystical, Mark too vulgar, and Luke too sentimental."[2]
Background
Pasolini had previously been sentenced to jail for the allegedly blasphemous and obscene content of his contribution to the anthology film RoGoPaG. As a reputed atheist, the reverential nature of his film was surprising, but Pasolini himself said "If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief."[citation needed] The film's credits include the announcement that it is dedicato alla cara, lieta, familiare memoria ("dedicated to the dear, joyous, familiar memory") of Pope John XXIII.
Style
Pasolini used some of the techniques of Italian neorealism. All of the actors are amateurs: Enrique Irazoqui (Jesus) was a 19 year old student from Spain, and the rest of the cast were mainly locals from Barile, Matera and Massafra (Italy), where the film was shot (Pasolini visited the Holy Land but found the locations unsuitable and "commercialized").[3] Pasolini cast his own mother, Susanna, as the elderly mother of Jesus, and Natalia Ginzburg as Mary of Bethany.
The score of the film is eclectic, ranging from Johann Sebastian Bach (e.g. Mass in B Minor and St Matthew Passion) to Odetta (Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child) and the 'Gloria' from the Congolese "Missa Luba".
Responses
The film was widely touted in Italy, and proved one of Pasolini's most popular, both with critics and the public.[4] Roger Ebert said in his movie review, "Pasolini's is one of the most effective films on a religious theme I have ever seen, perhaps because it was made by a nonbeliever who did not preach, glorify, underline, sentimentalize or romanticize his famous story, but tried his best to simply record it."[4]
Whilst filming it, Pasolini vowed to direct it from the "believer's point of view", but later, upon viewing the completed work, saw he had instead expressed his own beliefs.[citation needed]
On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% certified "fresh" rating.[5]
Awards
At the 1964 Venice Film Festival, The Gospel According to St. Matthew was nominated for 3 awards, including the Golden Lion, and won 2, the OCIC Award and the Special Jury Prize.
The Gospel According to St. Matthew was released in the United States in 1966 and was nominated for three Academy Awards: Art Direction (Luigi Scaccianoce), Costume Design, and Score.[6]
References
Notes
- ^ The Gospel According to St. Matthew at Danel Griffin's "Film as Art" website.
- ^ Pasolini - Faculty of Arts at The University of Auckland, New Zealand
- ^ See Pasolini's Sopralluoghi in Palestina ("Inspections in Palestine")
- ^ a b Roger Ebert's review of The Gospel According to St. Matthew.
- ^ The Gospel According to St. Matthew at Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ "The Gospel According to St. Matthew". The New York Times. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/20399/The-Gospel-According-to-St-Matthew/awards. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
Sources
- Bart Testa, "To Film a Gospel ... and Advent of the Theoretical Stranger," in Patrick Rumble and Bart Testa (eds.), Pier Paolo Pasolini: Contemporary Perspectives. University of Toronto Press, Inc., 1994, pp. 180–209. ISBN 0-8020-7737-4.
External links
