Jesus - the film
Jesus - The Film (also: Jesusfilm ) is an experimental fictional film by the German filmmaker Michael Brynntrup from 1986. The monumental film on Super-8 includes 35 episodes by 22 filmmakers and Super-8 groups from East and West Germany (FRG / GDR ). The individual episodes tell the stories, parables and stations of the life of Jesus in a very free interpretation .
action
Even the birth of the baby Jesus deviates dramatically from the New Testament model : twins are born to the Virgin Mary. According to tradition, however, only the life and suffering of the one is filmed. Throughout the film, Jesus is accompanied by dark agents (the evangelists ) who seem to be holding the strings. At the Last Supper, however, the predetermined life gets out of hand: Jesus takes pleasure in drinking blood. On the way of the cross at the encounter with St. Veronica he gives in to this passion and thus acquires immortality as a vampire . Jesus lives.
background
This story of the film and also the formal principle of the episodes is based on the idea or the technique of the surrealist ' ecriture automatique ': the individual filmmakers of the episodes did not know 'what had happened so far', but they were given descriptions of the subsequent scenes and, in some cases, the acting persons in order to preserve the continuity of the story. The continuous character in all episodes was the initiator and coordinator of the project, Michael Brynntrup , in the role of Jesus.
The 127-minute film was shot in black and white on Russian Super-8 material. The Super-8 cassettes were often smuggled out of the GDR under adventurous circumstances and distributed to the filmmakers involved. For cost reasons, the material was developed in-house. This is one of the reasons why the film looks like an expressionist classic of the silent film era.
distribution
The film premiered in 1986 at the Berlinale , the international forum for young films in Berlin , and toured 40 cities in the Federal Republic during the so-called 'mission tour' in the same year. In 1987 the film toured 10 cities in the USA and Canada with the support of the local Goethe Institute ('North America Mission').
The film was initially distributed in two versions: for a short time there was an 84-minute cinema version on 16 mm; the full 'episode version' was only available as a Super8 reverse copy. The complete film, comprising 35 episodes, was digitized and restored in 2014 with funds from the Filmförderungsanstalt (FFA) from the 'Filmisches Erbe' fund, and has since been distributed by the Deutsche Kinemathek as DCP .
At the same time as the digitization of the film, an extensive material book "Jesus - The Film - The Book" was published for the overall project (2014). The book contains the so-called Jesus taboo (a detailed project diary by Michael Brynntrup), as well as the letters to the players (the so-called Jesus letters ) on the progress of the project as a facsimile. The collection of props, relics and relics was exhibited for the first time during the project's final campaign, "Die Saal" (1987), and is comprehensively illustrated in the book along with numerous documents relating to the making of the film.
Awards
The film won the main prize at the Salzgitter Film Festival in 1986 and was awarded Best Production at the International Super 8 Festival in Caracas in 1987. The 11-minute trailer for the film ('Veronika - vera ikon') received honorable mentions at the Days of International Religious Film Friedberg, 1988 and at the International Student Film Festival Tel-Aviv, 1988.
Reviews
- A fresh, funny and surprising film and text collage. (the daily newspaper, Wiglaf Droste)
- The Jesus film, the great episode work of the German avant-garde scene. (zitty Berlin, Frank Arnold)
- The result is an extremely refreshing violation of the biblical ban on images. (TIPS Bielefeld)
- Arbitrariness and amateurism are part of the program, always on you-and-you with the genius. (Frankfurter Rundschau, Michael Kötz)
- The "Jesusfilm" is uncompromising cinema as it is fun. (Nürnberger Zeitung)
- Devilish work - This film and the comments are devilish. (Catholic picture mail)
- The theologian who sees this film sinks into dull despair. (epd film, Hans Werner Dannowski)
- This film becomes a cinema rite where the church ritual has failed. (Braunschweiger Zeitung)
- Jesus: The 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)
- The Jesus film is its own festival: a sampler that is as pious as it is practical. (The Experimental Film Handbook)
- In this film adaptation of the life and death of our Savior, it is true: compared to her, all others are equal. (the daily newspaper, Michael Vahlsing)
- 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 - The Movie - The Book, Randall Halle)
Web links
- Jesus - The Film in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website
- Jesus - The Film - The Book , Verlag Vorwerk8, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-940384-58-4