''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' ( it, Il vangelo secondo Matteo, "The Gospel According to Matthew"; "St. Matthew" would be "San Matteo") is a 1964 Italian
biblical drama film in the
neorealist style, written and directed by
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...
. It is a cinematic rendition of the story of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
(portrayed by non-professional actor
Enrique Irazoqui
Enrique Irazoqui (5 July 1944 – 16 September 2020) was a Spanish professor of literature, computer chess expert and actor, best known for his role as Jesus Christ in the 1964 film ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'', directed by Pier Paolo ...
) according to the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...
, from the
Nativity through the
Resurrection
Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
. The dialogue is taken directly from the
Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and form ...
, as Pasolini felt that "images could never reach the poetic heights of the text." He reportedly chose Matthew's Gospel over the others because he had decided that "
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
was too mystical,
Mark
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* F ...
too vulgar, and
Luke too sentimental."
The film is considered a classic of world cinema and the neorealist genre. After initial release, it won the
Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...
Grand Jury Prize, and three
Nastro d'Argento
The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...
Awards including
Best Director. It was also nominated for three
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
. In 2015, the
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
newspaper ''
L'Osservatore Romano
''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not ...
'' called it the best film on Christ ever made.
Plot
In
Galilee during the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediter ...
, Jesus of
Nazareth travels around the country with his disciples, healing the blind, raising the dead, exorcising demons and proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God and the salvation of Israel. He claims to be the Son of God and so, therefore, the prophesied
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
of Israel, which brings him into direct confrontation with the Jewish temple leaders. He is arrested, handed over to the Romans and charged with sedition against the Roman state, of which he is declared innocent by the Roman governor of Judea, but is, nevertheless, crucified at the behest of the Temple leaders. He rises from the dead after three days.
Cast
*
Enrique Irazoqui
Enrique Irazoqui (5 July 1944 – 16 September 2020) was a Spanish professor of literature, computer chess expert and actor, best known for his role as Jesus Christ in the 1964 film ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'', directed by Pier Paolo ...
as
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
* Margherita Caruso as
Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
** Susanna Pasolini as older Mary
* Marcello Morante as
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
* Mario Socrate as
John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
* Settimio Di Porto as
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
*
Alfonso Gatto as
Andrew
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...
* Luigi Barbini as
James
* Giacomo Morante as
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
*
Giorgio Agamben as
Phillip
Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...
* Guido Cerretani as
Bartholomew
Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو� ...
* Rosario Migale as
Thomas
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
* Ferruccio Nuzzo as
Matthew
* Marcello Galdini as
James, son of Alphaeus
* Elio Spaziani as
Thaddaeus
*
Enzo Siciliano
Enzo Siciliano (27 May 1934 – 9 June 2006) was an Italian writer, playwright, literary critic and intellectual.
Siciliano was born in Rome. He was collaborator of Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elsa Morante and many other famous w ...
as
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
* Otello Sestili as
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot (; grc-x-biblical, Ἰούδας Ἰσκαριώτης; syc, ܝܗܘܕܐ ܣܟܪܝܘܛܐ; died AD) was a disciple and one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. According to all four canonical gospels, Judas betraye ...
*
Rodolfo Wilcock as
Caiaphas
Joseph ben Caiaphas (; c. 14 BC – c. 46 AD), known simply as Caiaphas (; grc-x-koine, Καϊάφας, Kaïáphas ) in the New Testament, was the Jewish high priest who, according to the gospels, organized a plot to kill Jesus. He famous ...
* Alessandro Tasca as
Pontius Pilate
Pontius Pilate (; grc-gre, Πόντιος Πιλᾶτος, ) was the fifth governor of the Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official who presided over the trial of ...
* Amerigo Bevilacqua as
Herod the Great
Herod I (; ; grc-gre, ; c. 72 – 4 or 1 BCE), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman Jewish client king of Judea, referred to as the Herodian kingdom. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea, including his renova ...
* Francesco Leonetti as
Herod Antipas
* Franca Cupane as
Herodias
*
Paola Tedesco as
Salome
* Rossana Di Rocco as
Angel of the Lord
The (or an) angel of the ( he, מַלְאַךְ יְהוָה '' mal’āḵ YHWH'' "messenger of Yahweh") is an entity appearing repeatedly in the Tanakh (Old Testament) on behalf of the God of Israel.
The guessed term ''YHWH'', which occurs ...
*
Renato Terra
Renato Terra (26 July 1922 in Naples – 28 November 2010 in Rome) had a career working in film as an actor, and has appeared in over 80 movies. In 1977 he retired to become a poet.
Young, he attended the Experimental Center of Cinematography in ...
as
the possessed man
* Eliseo Boschi as
Joseph of Arimathea
Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several ...
*
Natalia Ginzburg as
Mary of Bethany
Mary of Bethany is a biblical figure mentioned only by name in the Gospel of John in the Christian New Testament. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Martha, she is described by John as living in the village of Bethany, a small village in Jud ...
*
Ninetto Davoli
Giovanni "Ninetto" Davoli (born 11 October 1948) is an Italian actor who became known through his roles in several of Pier Paolo Pasolini's films.
Biography
Davoli was born in San Pietro a Maida, Calabria. He was discovered by poet, novelist ...
as a shepherd
Production
Background and pre-production
In 1963, the figure of Christ appeared in
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...
's
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
''
La ricotta'', included in the omnibus film ''
RoGoPaG'', which led to controversy and a jail sentence for the allegedly blasphemous and obscene content in the film. According to Barth David Schwartz's book ''Pasolini Requiem'' (1992), the impetus for the film took place in 1962. Pasolini had accepted
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII ( la, Ioannes XXIII; it, Giovanni XXIII; born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, ; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death in June 19 ...
's invitation for a new dialogue with non-Catholic artists, and subsequently visited the town of
Assisi to attend a seminar at a
Franciscan
, image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg
, image_size = 200px
, caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans
, abbreviation = OFM
, predecessor =
, ...
monastery there. The papal visit caused traffic jams in the town, leaving Pasolini confined to his hotel room; there, he came across a copy of the
New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chri ...
. Pasolini read all
four Gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
straight through, and he claimed that adapting a film from one of them "threw in the shade all the other ideas for work I had in my head."
Unlike previous cinematic depictions of Jesus' life, Pasolini's film does not embellish the
biblical account with any literary or dramatic inventions, nor does it present
an amalgam of the four Gospels (subsequent films which would adhere as closely as possible to one Gospel account are 1979's ''
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
'', based on the Gospel of Luke, and 2003's ''
The Gospel of John
The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
''). Pasolini stated that he decided to "remake the Gospel by analogy" and the film's sparse dialogue all comes directly from the Bible.
[Wakeman. pp. 746.]
Given Pasolini's well-known reputation as an
atheist, a
homosexual, and a
Marxist, the reverential nature of the film came as a surprise, especially after the controversy of ''La ricotta''. At a press conference in 1966, Pasolini was asked why he, an unbeliever, had made a film which dealt with religious themes; his response was, "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." Therefore, he sets his criticism against a backdrop of sheer religious concern for the role assumed by the Church, the organization, for centuries.
On the idea of analogy, Pasolini emphasized his intention of not reproducing exactly a historic, casual Christ, but projecting the present-day society of southern Italy onto that figure, a Christ after 2,000 years of narrative build-up. As he explained,
Along with this method of reconstruction by analogy, we find the idea of myth and epics ..so when narrating the history of Christ, I did not reconstruct Christ such as he actually was. If I had reconstructed Christ's history as it actually was, I would not have made a religious film, since I am not a believer. I do not think Christ was God's son. I would have made a positivist or Marxist reconstruction if any, so at the best of cases, a life of one of the five or six thousands saints preaching at that moment in Palestine. However, I did not want to do that, I am not interested in profanations: that is just a fashion I loathe, it is petit bourgeois. I want to consecrate things again, because that is possible, I want to re-mythologize them. I did not want to reconstruct the life of Christ as it really was, I wanted to make the history of Christ plus two thousand years of Christian storytelling about the life of Christ, since it is the two thousands years of Christian history that have mythologized this biography, one that as such would have been virtually insignificant otherwise. My film is the life of Christ after two thousands years of stories on the life of Christ. That is what I had in mind.
The film was dedicated to John XXIII. The announcement at the opening credits reads that it is ''"dedicato alla cara, lieta, familiare memoria di Giovanni XXIII"'' (''"dedicated to the dear, joyous, familiar memory of Pope John XXIII"''). Pasolini was particularly critical with the new
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
(1963), at a moment when he was drafting a storyboard for a follow-up to the film, this time on
Paul the Apostle. The project due for 1966–1967 never took off, but it was advanced.
Filming and style
Pasolini employed many of the techniques of
Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism ( it, Neorealismo), also known as the Golden Age, is a national film movement characterized by stories set amongst the poor and the working class. They are filmed on location, frequently with non-professional actors. They pri ...
in the making of his film. Most of the actors he hired were non-professionals.
Enrique Irazoqui
Enrique Irazoqui (5 July 1944 – 16 September 2020) was a Spanish professor of literature, computer chess expert and actor, best known for his role as Jesus Christ in the 1964 film ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'', directed by Pier Paolo ...
(
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
) was a 19-year-old economics student from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and a communist activist, while the rest of the cast were mainly locals from
Barile
Barile ( aae, Barilli; Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the ''comuni'' (municipalities), of Ginestra, Rapolla, Rionero in Vulture, Ripacandida, and ...
,
Matera, and
Massafra
Massafra () is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Taranto in the Apulia region of southeast Italy.
History
According to some hypotheses,Giuseppe Blandamura,'' Choerades Insulae'', Taranto, Tipografia Arcivescovile, 1925. Massafra was founde ...
, where the film was shot (Pasolini visited the Holy Land but found the locations unsuitable and "commercialized"). His location scouting in the Holy Land is documented in the adjoining feature-length documentary
Location Hunting in Palestine, released a year later. Pasolini cast his own mother, Susanna, as the elderly
mother of Jesus. The cast also included noted intellectuals such as writers
Enzo Siciliano
Enzo Siciliano (27 May 1934 – 9 June 2006) was an Italian writer, playwright, literary critic and intellectual.
Siciliano was born in Rome. He was collaborator of Alberto Moravia, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Elsa Morante and many other famous w ...
and
Alfonso Gatto, poets
Natalia Ginzburg and
Rodolfo Wilcock, and philosopher
Giorgio Agamben. In addition to the original biblical source, Pasolini used references to "2,000 years of Christian painting and sculptures" throughout the film. The look of the characters is also eclectic and, in some cases, anachronistic, resembling artistic depictions of different eras (the costumes of the
Roman soldier
This is a list of Roman army units and bureaucrats.
*'' Accensus'' – Light infantry men in the armies of the early Roman Republic, made up of the poorest men of the army.
*'' Actuarius'' – A military who served food.
*''Adiutor'' – A camp o ...
s and the
Pharisees, for example, are influenced by
Renaissance art
Renaissance art (1350 – 1620 AD) is the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts of the period of European history known as the Renaissance, which emerged as a distinct style in Italy in about AD 1400, in parallel with developments which occ ...
, whereas Jesus' appearance has been likened to that in
Byzantine art
Byzantine art comprises the body of Christian Greek artistic products of the Eastern Roman Empire, as well as the nations and states that inherited culturally from the empire. Though the empire itself emerged from the decline of Rome and lasted u ...
as well as the work of
Expressionist
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
artist
Georges Rouault
Georges Henri Rouault (; 27 May 1871, Paris – 13 February 1958) was a French painter, draughtsman and print artist, whose work is often associated with Fauvism and Expressionism.
Childhood and education
Rouault was born in Paris into a ...
).
Pasolini later described the film as "the life of Christ plus 2,000 years of storytelling about the life of Christ."
[Wakeman. pp. 747.]
Pasolini described his experience filming ''The Gospel According to Matthew'' as very different from his previous films. He stated that while his shooting style on his previous film ''
Accattone
''Accattone'' is a 1961 Italian drama film written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Despite an original screenplay, the film is often perceived as a cinematic rendition of Pasolini's earlier novels, particularly '' Ragazzi di vita'' (''The R ...
'' was "reverential," when his shooting style was applied to a biblical source it "came out rhetorical. ... And then when I was shooting the baptism scene near Viterbo I threw over all my technical preconceptions. I started using the zoom, I used new camera movements, new frames which were not reverential, but almost documentary
ombiningan almost classical severity with the moments that are almost
Godardian, for example in the two trials of Christ shot like '
cinema verite.' ... The Point is that ... I, a non-believer, was telling the story through the eyes of a believer. The mixture at the narrative level produced the mixture stylistically."
Music
The score of the film, arranged by
Luis Enríquez Bacalov
Luis Enríquez Bacalov (30 August 1933 – 15 November 2017) was an Argentine-born film composer. He learned music from Enrique Barenboim, father of Daniel Barenboim the conductor of the Berlin, and Chicago orchestras, and also Berta Sujovolsk ...
, is
eclectic; ranging from
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...
(e.g. ''
Mass in B Minor'' and ''
St Matthew Passion'') to
Odetta
Odetta Holmes (December 31, 1930 – December 2, 2008), known as Odetta, was an American singer, actress, guitarist, lyricist, and a civil rights activist, often referred to as "The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement". Her musical repertoire co ...
("
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child", also "Motherless Child", is a traditional Spiritual. It dates back to the era of slavery in the United States.
An early performance of the song was in the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. "Blue Ge ...
"), to
Blind Willie Johnson ("
Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"Because documentation is scarce in early recordings, the title of the song appears differently in many sources. It is often called "Dark Was the Night" or punctuated as "Dark Was the Night (Cold Was the Gr ...
"), to the Jewish ceremonial declaration "
Kol Nidre
Kol Nidre (also known as Kol Nidrey or Kol Nidrei; Aramaic: ''kāl niḏrē'') is a Hebrew and Aramaic declaration which is recited in the synagogue before the beginning of the evening service on every Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"). Strictly ...
" and the "
Gloria" from the Congolese ''
Missa Luba.'' Pasolini stated that all of the film's music was of a sacred or religious nature from all parts of the world and multiple cultures or belief systems.
Bacalov also composed several original musical tracks.
Reception
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, including several Christian critics.
Philip French called it "a noble film," and
Alexander Walker said that "it grips the historical and psychological imagination like no other religious film I have seen. And for all its apparent simplicity, it is visually rich and contains strange, disturbing hints and undertones about Christ and his mission."
Some Marxist film critics, however, wrote unfavorable reviews. Oswald Stack criticized the film's "abject concessions to
reactionary ideology." In response to criticism from the left, Pasolini admitted that, in his opinion, "there are some horrible moments I am ashamed of. ... The Miracle of
the loaves and the fishes and
Christ walking on water are disgusting
Pietism
Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christian life, including a social concern for the needy an ...
." He also stated that the film was "a reaction against the conformity of Marxism. The mystery of life and death and of suffering – and particularly of religion ... is something that Marxists do not want to consider. But these are and have always been questions of great importance for human beings."
''The Gospel According to Matthew'' was ranked number 10 (in 2010) and number 7 (in 2011) in the ''Arts and Faith'' website's Top 100 Films, also is in the
Vatican's list of 45 great films and
Roger Ebert's Great Movies list.
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
the film has an approval rating of 92%, based on 36 reviews, and an average rating of 8.6 out of 10, with the critics consensus saying "''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' forgoes the pageantry of biblical epics in favor of a naturalistic retelling of the Christ story, achieving a respectful if not reverent interpretation with political verve."
Awards
At the
25th Venice International Film Festival, ''The Gospel According to Matthew'' was screened in competition for the Golden Lion, and won the OCIC Award and the Silver Lion. At the film's premiere, a crowd gathered to boo Pasolini but cheered him after the film was over. The film later won the Grand Prize at the International Catholic Film Office.
The film was nominated for the UN Award at the
21st British Academy Film Awards.
''The Gospel According to Matthew'' was released in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 1966 and was nominated for three
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
:
Art Direction (
Luigi Scaccianoce
Luigi Scaccianoce (July 12, 1914, in Venice, Italy – October 18, 1981) was an Italian production designer, art director and set decorator. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Art Direction for his work in '' The Gospel According ...
),
Costume Design
Costume design is the creation of clothing for the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the arti ...
(
Danilo Donati
Danilo Donati (6 April 1926 - 1 December 2001) was an Italian costume designer and production designer. He won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design twice: the first time for his work in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1968), the second time for his w ...
), and
Score.
Alternate versions
The 2007 Region 1 DVD release from Legend Films features a
colourised, English-dubbed version of the film, in addition to the original, black-and-white Italian-language version. (The English-dubbed version is significantly shorter than the original, with a running time of 91 minutes – roughly 40 minutes shorter than the standard version.)
References
Further reading
* 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. .
* "Pasolini, ''Il Cristo dell'Eresia (Il Vangelo secondo Matteo). Sacro e censura nel cinema di Pier Paolo Pasolini'' (Edizioni Joker, 2009) by Erminia Passannanti,
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gospel According To Matthew, The
1964 films
1964 drama films
Biographical films about Jesus
Film portrayals of Jesus' death and resurrection
Films directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini
Films about communism
Films shot in Matera
Gospel of Matthew
Italian drama films
Cultural depictions of John the Baptist
1960s Italian-language films
Marxist works
Pope John XXIII
Portrayals of the Virgin Mary in film
Religious epic films
Venice Grand Jury Prize winners
Films scored by Luis Bacalov
Caiaphas
Cultural depictions of Pontius Pilate
Portrayals of Saint Joseph in film
Cultural depictions of Saint Peter
Depictions of Herod the Great on film
Cultural depictions of Salome
1960s Italian films