Jesus of montreal is a beautiful film about the real meaning of spirituality. Denys arcands jesus of montreal 1990, for example, portrays a group of actors in montreal who are hired to stage a passion play. Another actor named pascal berger, played by cedric noel, praises daniel as john the baptist hailed jesus. Pitted against the inflexibility of religious institutions, daniel played wonderfully by. His previous film was the decline of the american empire, in which a group of montreal intellectuals gathered to prepare a meal and talk about the meanings of their lives. Jesus of montreal 1989 stream and watch online moviefone. Daniel lothaire bluteau is an actor who is putting together a production of a passion play. Jesus of montreal flits between the smug and the ersatz mystical. Jesus of montreal is an engaging movie detailing some historical facts about the life of jesus christ while also discussing the nature of faith in 20th century montreal. A 2004 production, the buskers opera, restyled john gays the beggars. Decline of the american empire, jesus of montreal, barbarian invasion, and days of darkness are all beautifly crafted, acted, photographed, and well worth repeated viewings. Revolving around set pieces reflecting passages from christs life rather than a traditional recreation. Throughout the movie, there are hints that the actor in the troupe who plays jesus lothaire bluteau isnt acting.
The titles of denys arcands movies jesus of montreal, the decline of the american empire have usually been more provocative than the films themselves, however worthwhile those pictures like. Il vangelo secondo matteo, the last temptation of christ, jesus of montreal and the passion of the christ. The film is not currently included in any of the video streaming facilities netflix, hulu, etc. Released 1989, jesus of montreal stars lothaire bluteau, catherine wilkening, johannemarie tremblay, remy girard the r movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 59 min, and received a score of out of. The way that the cast comes together and the environment in which they perform have a strikingly similar resemblance to jesus life here on earth as reporter in the new testament. Events in the life of the actor who plays jesus parallel events in the. It asks the question is art imitating life, or is life imitating art. Jesus of montreal is a 1989 french canadian comedydrama film written and directed by denys arcand, and starring lothaire bluteau, catherine wilkening and johannemarie tremblay. Jesus of montreal 1989 jesus of montreal 1989 user. Ive been interested in this film for years, and now its out on dvd. The film shows the effects of hollywood on canadian culture.
Movie, jesus of montreal movie, jesus of montreal trailer, jesus of montreal 1989, denys arcand,lothaire bluteau, remy girard, catherine wilkening, robert lepage, gilles pelletier, johannemarie. Father leclerc gilles pelletier, a catholic priest in montreal, hires an itinerant actor named. The film not only works as a clever satire, but also a sharply brilliant commentary on religion, theater, and even advertising. Jesus crucifixion from jesus film set to david crowder bands thank you for hearing me. Jesus of montreal is more than a retelling of the ancient story. The idea of the film came about when one of the actors in a previous film came to him.
This unconventional canadian film focuses on an acting troupe hired to stage a passion play about the life of jesus. The central conceit is that the actor playing jesus in the local passion play. Jesus of montreal is a film you can watch over and over again, but its worth seeing it for the first time without knowing the various ways that arcand restages the key events of the gospels in montreal in the 1980s. In the movie, jesus of montreal, daniel experiences conflict between the institutional church and commercial media culture. Josephs oratory, a cathedral and shrine on mount royal in montreal, canada.
I was nominated for a genie award for best screenplay for a canadian play, and jesus of montreal was my main competition. The life of jesus english official full hd movie duration. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing jesus of montreal near you. Nominated for an oscar this year as best foreign film, this canadian gem, from writerdirector denys arcand the decline of the american empire, is a sharply perceptive satire of modern christiani.
Blending high octane stunts with slapstick humour, kung fu hustle may be flawed when it comes to the plot but the movie is never less than really entertaining. This can be seen in a scene when a lawyeragent tempts daniel to risk his artistic strength in order to possess the city, and uses ronald reagan, as an example of daniels prospects. Lothaire bluteau stars as daniel coloumbe, an intense young actor in montreal who is hired by church fathers to restage and update the citys annual passion play, which over the course of the past. The drama takes place in modern day montreal where father leclerc gilles pelletier, a priest with an interest in theatre, hires daniel lothaire bluteau, a talented and intelligent actor, to direct the annual passion play staged on the grounds of a. Cast includes lothaire bluteau danieljesus, robert lepagerene, remy girard martin, johannemarie tremblay. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. I agree with steves comment that when daniel who plays the part of jesus, and a group of people who were hired by the catholic church to play the passion of christ, and when the church objects to its biblical interpretation and attempts to stop the play, we see that this as a critique of. Daniel and the group of actors are being paid by the roman catholic chapel to present a passion play. Jesus of montreal is a movie from a director with intelligence and refined sensibilities. Jesus of montreal denys arcands jesus of montreal is a modern passion play that takes aim at organized religion and the superficial values of our mediasaturated society, yet suggests salvation.
The voters wisely chose to give just about all the awards to this film. Denys arcand made this original movie, in which life imitates art, at the peak of his career, right. But as the film weaves in and out of the characters lives and their new version of the passion, mr. The drama takes place in modern day montreal where father leclerc gilles pelletier, a priest with an interest in theatre, hires daniel lothaire bluteau, a talented and intelligent actor, to direct the annual passion play staged on the grounds of a hillside shrine overlooking the city.
Perhaps the movie s best scene, where lothaire bluteau flips over the tables of the money changers, reinvents the incident. Jesus of montreal follows an acting troupe working on a play about the life of jesus. Jesus of montreal 1989 youtube in this fascinating film, a group of actors in canada stage a modernized passion play. As the church turns against the main actor and author of the play, his life increasingly mirrors the story of jesus, and the film adapts. Jesus of montreal is a film about a play about jesus of nazareth.
Every year a passion play, detailing the final days of jesus christ, is staged at st. In movies about biblical figures we have come to expect certain stock props, and in this one we get. This hiatus coincided with a surge of popular interest in the question of the historical jesus, and a new awareness of the difficulties of truly reconstructing. Jesus of montreal is about a yearning for something else, a search for a sort of meaning. Jesus of montreal is a canadian movie released in 1989.
Jesus of montreal won the grand prize of the jury at the 1989 cannes film. Jesus of montreal was written and directed by denys arcand, the best of the new generation of quebec filmmakers. The film tells the story of a group of actors in montreal who perform a passion play in a quebec church, combining religious belief with unconventional theories on a historical jesus. Unfortunately the transfer here apears to be struck from the original ntsc master. Other articles where jesus of montreal is discussed. As the players deepen their roles,unexpected turn occur.
Jesus of montreal won the grand prize of the jury at the 1989 cannes film festival and gained 12 genies, the canadian equivalents of the academy awards. Not as conventional as it may first appear, the movie is delightfully witty and truly thoughtprovoking. Another long gap occurred between 1989, when jesus of montreal was released, and 2003, when philip savilles film the gospel of john debuted at the toronto international film festival. Jesus of montreal is not a film that any right minded person would want to see, nor is it a film that christians need to protest, rather it is movie that should call us to renewed evangelism so that the film making community can be delivered from these confused humanistic visions. Upon returning from extended travels in the east, an outofwork montreal theatre actor, daniel coulombe, is commissioned by a catholic priest to modernize and rejuvenate the annual production of the passion play for saint josephs oratory.
As they do, they come into conflict with the religious and political establishment. The film entitled jesus of montreal is about a group of actors based in montreal with daniel as their leader. In this country, the canadians bestknown work is the decline of american civilization. The interest comes because it was filmed at about the same time as millennium was filming in toronto. Jesus of montreal 1989 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. Pitted against the inflexibility of religious institutions, daniel played wonderfully by lothaire bluteau shows his ragtag disciples the real meaning behind the teachings of jesus of nazareth. On monday i was speaking to a class of students at york st. Ive spoken about all of them before, of course, but i felt i wanted to do a bit more research on jesus of montreal, particularly from sources other than books about bible films to find of. Arcand is a great film maker who makes great movies. In montreal, the wanderings of two urban homeless, marcel, an old timer and joseph, who just landed in the big city.
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