''Jesus – The Film'' (, also called ''Jesusfilm'') is a 1986 experimental feature film by German filmmaker Michael Brynntrup. This "Monumental Film" on

Super 8 Super 8 or Super Eight may refer to: Film * Super 8 film, a motion picture film format released in 1965 * Super 8 film camera, a motion picture camera used to film Super 8mm motion picture format * ''Super 8'' (2011 film), a science-fiction f ...

contains 35 episodes made by 22 filmmakers and collectives from East and West Germany. Each episode is a very loose interpretation of the stories, parables and stations of the life of

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

Plot

Starting with the birth of the Jesus child, the film deviates wildly from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

template, with the Virgin

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

now giving birth to twins, likely to give credence to the idea that

Gnostic Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: , romanized: ''gnōstikós'', Koine Greek: �nostiˈkos 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among early Christian sects. These diverse g ...

The Gospel of Thomas was actually written by the twin brother of Jesus. However, in keeping with tradition, only the life and suffering of the One is portrayed. Throughout the entire film, Jesus is shadowed by dark agents (the

Four Evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

) who seem to be the puppet masters of the story. But this preordained life spins out of control at the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

, where Jesus develops a fondness for drinking blood. On his way to

Calvary Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

, he meets

Saint Veronica Saint Veronica, also known as ''Berenike'', was a widow from Jerusalem who lived in the 1st century AD, according to extra-biblical Christian traditions. Apocryphal texts relate how Veronica was moved with sympathy seeing Jesus carrying the cr ...

and surrenders to this thirst, thereby acquiring immortality as a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

. Jesus lives.

Production

The film's storyline, as well as the creative process of each episode, is inspired by the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

technique of the "

exquisite corpse Exquisite corpse (from the original French term ', ) is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule (e.g., "The ''adjective'' ''noun' ...

": the episodes' makers didn't know what happened in the previous scenes, receiving only a description of the last connecting shot – and sometimes also the use of previous cast members – in order to maintain the story's continuity. The constant figure in all the episodes was Michael Brynntrup, the initiator and coordinator of the overall project, in the role of Jesus. The 127-minute film was shot in black and white on Russian

film stock. These Super 8 cassettes were smuggled out of East Germany, often under precarious conditions, and then distributed to the participating filmmakers. Due to financial constraints, much of the film processing was done by the filmmakers themselves. This also contributed to the film's look, recalling the

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 ...

classics of the silent movie era. The Super 8 film was digitized and restored in 2014 with the financial support of the "Film Heritage" program of the (FFA) and the collaboration of the Deutsche Kinemathek Foundation; since then, the complete version is now available in DCP (Digital Cinema Package) format.

Reception

The film premiered at the 1986

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

, as part of the International Forum of New Cinema, before going on a "Mission Tour" through 40 locations across West Germany that same year. Then in 1987, the film went on a "North America Mission", visiting 10 cities across the USA and Canada with the support of local

Goethe Institute The Goethe-Institut (; GI, ''Goethe Institute'') is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit German culture, cultural organization operational worldwide with more than 150 cultural centres, promoting the study of the German language abroad and en ...

s. The film won the top prize at the 1986 Salzgitter Film Festival and the prize for best production at the 1987 Caracas International Super 8 Festival. The film's 11-minute trailer (entitled ''Veronika – Vera Ikon'' ) received an honorable mention at the 1988 Friedberg International Festival of Religious Films and at the 1988 Tel Aviv International Student Film Festival. In 2014 ''Jesus – the Film – the Book'' was published. The book is a bilingual (German/English) compilation of materials documenting the three years of the Jesus Film project, ranging from the initial ideas and research in 1984, through facsimiles of the Jesus Letters that were sent to participating filmmakers, a detailed project diary with notes on the dynamics of group work, additional production materials along with images of the shoot and of props that attained the status of relics, to facsimiles of program flyers from the months-long "Mission Tours" through West Germany (1986) and North America (1987). The book thus stands as an independent work of its own. * "Jesus: Der Film is silly, sublime." (Chicago Sun-Times, Peter Keough) * "The idea of the film is more important than its technical perfection." ( Andy Warhol's Interview) * "This film is the largest collective project in German film history. In the history of world cinema there are few works that can compare." (Jesus – Der Film – Das Buch, Randall Halle)Randall Halle: ''Jesus – das Projekt.'' In: ''Jesus – Der Film – Das Buch'', Vorwerk8, Berlin 2014, , p. 287.

Cast

* Michael Brynntrup as Jesus * Panterah Countess as Mary * Jürgen Brauch as Satan and Joseph *

Hermoine Zittlau Hermione most commonly refers to: * Hermione (given name), a female given name * Hermione (mythology), only daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology and original bearer of the name * Hermione Granger, a character in ''Harry Potter'' Hermi ...

as Caiaphas * Fabian Saladin Prinz von Hessen-Nassau as Pontius Pilate *

Stiletto A stiletto (plural stilettos) is a specialized dagger with a long slender blade and needle-like point, primarily intended as a thrusting and stabbing weapon.Limburg, Peter R., ''What's In The Names Of Antique Weapons'', Coward, McCann & Geoghega ...

as Saint Peter * Uli Versum as John the Apostle * Oliver Körner von Gustorff as Judas Iscariot * Bertram Jesdinsky as John the Baptist * Ulrich Sappok as the head of John the Baptist * Heidi Paris as Angel * Peter Gente as John of the Apocalypse

External links

*
Official Website

Jesus – Der Film – Das Buch
Verlag Vorwerk8, Berlin 2014,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus - The Film 1986 films 1980s avant-garde and experimental films German avant-garde and experimental films German anthology films Films about Jesus Films directed by Michael Brynntrup Films directed by Jörg Buttgereit West German films 1980s German-language films German independent films German vampire films 1980s German films