The 1st Gospel - Matthew
The 1st Gospel - Matthew (original title: Il Vangelo secondo Matteo ) is a feature film by the Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini from 1964.
action
Jesus is portrayed as an uncompromising preacher and Son of God, irreconcilable with the Jewish establishment at the time. He calls on the individual to tread the good path of God. That is, to be gentle with children, the underprivileged, and repentant sinners, but angry with the merchants and the Pharisees' religious establishment .
background
In the film, shot in black and white, Pasolini traces the life of Jesus of Nazareth faithfully based on the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible. In contrast to what happened in numerous contemporary comparable works, he depicts Jesus as a realistic and human figure. The work surprises with its uncompromising implementation of the biblical model, with no additional people, storylines or dialogues that have not been passed down in the Bible. Given Pasolini's homosexuality and his communist and atheist beliefs, this has caused amazement in both Catholic and left-wing circles. He himself said in an interview: “The Gospel presented me with the following problem: I couldn't tell it like a classic story because I don't believe, but am an atheist. [...] In order to be able to tell the gospel, I had to immerse myself in the soul of a believer. This is indirect free speech (le discours indirect libre) : on the one hand the action is seen through my own eyes, on the other hand through the eyes of a believer. "
Pasolini's interpretation of the character of Jesus Christ fits into his socially critical style and his preference for uncomfortable people away from the establishment. In a note Pasolini wrote: "Nothing seems more contrary to the modern world than that figure of Christ: gentle in heart, but never in thought."
Pasolini based his script on the Gospel according to Matthew and only used literal quotations that have been handed down there. He almost completely dispensed with professional actors; the participants were laypeople or - like Renato Terra - actors at the beginning of their careers. Pasolini's mother Susanna played the Mother of God , the philosopher and student Giorgio Agamben the Apostle Philip .
The film music has an expressionistic effect . A mix of different styles that was unusual for the time (1964) is presented, which is now common in large-scale productions. However, it does not cover up gaps in the storyline, but supports the long shots and the economical facial expressions of the amateur actors. The soundtrack ranges from the solemnity of Mozart's mural funeral music ( KV 477, for the apparition of Christ on the Jordan) to Russian folk songs (for the scenes of the Sermon on the Mount ), the spiritual Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child sung by Odetta Holmes to the Congolese rhythms the Missa Luba for the miracle scenes and the stations of the cross . Bach's St. Matthew Passion is used again and again ( We sit down in tears ).
Large parts of the film were shot in and around Matera . Pasolini had found extras there , in whose faces as well as in the setting there were still those “pre- industrial ” features that he had been looking for for a long time.
A special honor for Pasolini was - in view of his ambivalent attitude towards the Church - the applause of around 40 minutes from the audience, consisting primarily of bishops and other Catholic clergy, at a performance in the Vatican in 1964.
A colored version of the film, shot in black and white, was released in the USA .
Reviews
"Following the Gospel of Matthew, he creates an individually toned picture of salvation history, in which the social aspect of Jesus' message is worked out in particular."
“The film […] is perhaps the only real miracle of Bible cinema, a story of poor peasants and fishermen from whose midst the Son of God grows, an itinerant preacher and rebel who Irazoqui plays with an angry determination that no other screen Jesus plays has ever reached again. "
“Unusually impressive film adaptation of the life of Jesus based on the texts of the Gospel of Matthew. A bitter presentation, which differs considerably from the usual clichés of other Bible films, which shows that with the person of Jesus something came into the world which she did not like and which she needs more urgently than her daily bread: the free brotherhood of those freed from authoritarian rule Children of God. Strongly recommended to young people and adults. "
Awards
The film took part in the competition for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 1964 . Pasolini was awarded the special prize of the jury for his directorial work. The film received the Nastro d'Argento in 1965 in the categories of Director of the Best Italian Film (Pier Paolo Pasolini), Best Cinematography - Black and White ( Tonino Delli Colli ), Best Production Design ( Luigi Scaccianoce ) and Best Costumes ( Danilo Donati ). There was another nomination in the category Best Producer ( Alfredo Bini ).
At the Academy Awards in 1967, The First Gospel was nominated in the categories of Best Production Design , Best Costume Design, and Best Film Music , but received no award. The film was nominated for a United Nations Award from the BAFTA Awards in 1968 .
In 1995, The First Gospel was included in the Vatican 's film list, which comprises a total of 45 films, which the Holy See believes are particularly recommendable.
Home theater
The first release for home cinema, many years before VHS and DVD, was released in the early 1970s by Edition Atlas Film / Piccolo Film, made up of 7 × 120 m Super 8 in B / W and German magnetic sound 3.5 minutes of the original film are missing due to the existing reel sizes.
Web links
- The first Gospel - Matthew in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pasolini: The 1st Gospel - Matthew . Arthaus DVD, Kinowelt Home Entertainment 2004 (production notes under Extras).
- ↑ Photo exhibition "The Gospel According to Matera"
- ^ Retail Products: The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964). Legend-Films.com (accessed August 22, 2016).
- ↑ The 1st Gospel - Matthew. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Christ only came as far as Hollywood on faz.net
- ↑ Protestant film observer . No. 132/1965, p. 253.
- ↑ Home cinema: Contemporary history in Super-8. Der Spiegel , No. 34, August 20, 1973.
- ↑ Auction offer on Mediavana.de ( Memento from February 8, 2017 in the web archive archive.today )