The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)

Original title

Il vangelo secondo Matteo

Directed by

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Genre

drama film

Country

France, Italy

Runtime

2h 11m

Rated

15+

Rating

7.4 of 10 from 414 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

This film tells the story of Jesus from his birth to his resurrection following the Gospel of Matthew. It was shot on location in Southern Italy with mostly non-professional actors. The dialogue comes straight from the biblical text.

reverentausterestarkepiccontemplativeunadornedpoetic

What happens

The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Italian: Il Vangelo secondo Matteo) is a 1964 epic biblical drama film, written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. It is a cinematic rendition of the story of Jesus according to the Gospel of Matthew, from the Nativity through the Resurrection. In the neorealist tradition, the film employed a cast of mostly amateur actors, and was filmed entirely on-location throughout Southern Italy. The dialogue is taken directly from the Gospel of Matthew, 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 felt "John was too mystical, Mark too vulgar, and Luke too sentimental." The Gospel According to St. Matthew premiered on 4 September 1964 at the 25th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and three Nastro d'Argento Awards, including Best Director. It was nominated for three Oscars—Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design and Best Score. In 2015, the Vatican City newspaper L'Osservatore Romano called it the best film on Christ ever made. The film is considered a classic of world cinema and the neorealist genre. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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