Jesus of Montreal (1989)

Original title

Jésus de Montréal

Directed by

Denys Arcand

Genre

drama film

Country

France, Canada

Runtime

1h 59m

Rating

6.9 of 10 from 92 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A group of actors in Montreal puts on a passion play that mixes religious belief with unconventional ideas about the historical Jesus. The lead actor becomes the target of the church as his own life starts to parallel the story he is performing.

cerebralmelancholicvisually lushmovingwryreflectiveearnestthought-provoking

What happens

Jesus of Montreal (French: Jésus de Montréal) is a 1989 Canadian comedy drama film written and directed by Denys Arcand, and starring Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening and Johanne-Marie Tremblay. The film tells the story of a group of actors in Montreal who perform a passion play in a Quebec church (the film uses the grounds of Saint Joseph's Oratory on Mount Royal), combining religious belief with unconventional theories on a historical Jesus. 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 numerous stories from the New Testament. The film came out to critical acclaim and won numerous awards, including the Genie Award for Best Picture and the Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. The film was also nominated for the 1989 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Critics in the Toronto International Film Festival have regarded the film as one of the Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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