Jesus of Montreal

Buy This Item Jesus of Montreal by Mgm Entertainment  Available from Amazon  $19.98  on 11-17-2008     What happens to the people putting on a Passion Play? Someday Mel Gibson may tell us, but Denys Arcand's <I>Jesus of Montreal</I> proposes an engaging possibility. In hip present-day Montreal, a group of actors stages the Passion in an outdoor, somewhat avant-garde style, led by the quietly charismatic and increasingly uncanny young man (Lothaire Bluteau, <I>Black Robe</I>) playing Christ. His identification with the role, and the way it bleeds into real life, gives director Denys Arcand plenty of opportunities for social comment--some of it spot-on, some of it a little facile. But the fragile Bluteau is such a fascinating lead presence (the other actors are familiar from Arcand's <I>Barbarian Invasions</I> and <I>Decline of the American Empire</I>) that the movie's spell lasts long after it's over. Turns out the French-Canadian approach to the Passion can be just as intriguing as the original Aramaic. <I>--Robert Horton</I> Reader Reviews The movie is not for those who are easily influenced in their faith, since it includes scenes where presumably the church is hiding the fact that Jesus wasn't really raised from the dead. It is a foreign film with dubbed English, and it plays very well. Although the movie is slow, it is a great concept, and I appreciated how it played out, especially the end. Interestingly, just after I watched this movie, one of my congregation members asked, "I wonder if people who play Jesus in movies are influenced by playing the part?" The movie opened a great conversation with them, and I was glad I watched it.

Jesus of Montreal Available from Amazon Price: $19.98 Updated on 11-17-2008.

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