137) Jesus of Montreal

Jesus de Montreal (1989)

Director: Denys Arcand

Starring: Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Remy Girard, Robert Lepage

General busyness meant that I didn't come into last week's tutorial on Made in Britain as prepared as I'd hoped and as a result was not very happy with the class I ran. This week I've got a bit more time on my hands so I've decided to do a bit of extra preparation for tomorrow's class on French-Canadian cinema by watching Denys Arcand's Jesus of Montreal.

The Montreal basilica hires a young actor, Daniel (Bluteau), to update and modernise their long-running passion play. Daniel gathers a motley crew of performers and together they write a very unconventional play. When the season opens it is greeted with amazing critical acclaim, but the church is not happy with this more radical portrayal of the life of Christ and makes moves to shut the play down. But the players become more and more committed to their play, and strengthened by the conviction of Daniel, the continue in the face of religious uproar.

There have been many, many films made about the life of Christ, and a high percentage of them are boring as dirt. The more conservative, the more effort that has gone into strict adherence to the Biblical text, the more boring. One of the best films about the life of Christ I have seen is Martin Scorsese's adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel The Last Temptation of Christ. This film took a lot of liberties with the details in the story, and hence caused great uproar in conservative Christian circles. But in taking liberties with some details, it enabled the filmmaker to humanise the figure of Jesus. By giving him a psychological reality, the figure of Christ became relatable to audiences as a character in a way which he never is in more conservative tellings of the story, and thus gives the audience a different type of insight into Jesus (how much more thought provoking and stirring is the message of Scorsese's film, that Jesus was tempted, than the message of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, that Jesus suffered). Arcand's film explores the difficulties which are faced by Daniel and his troupe as they try and put on their play, the same difficulties faced by Scorsese in trying to make The Last Temptation of Christ, that in trying to give the Passion narrative new life, to make it real to people, you come up against the weight of the conservative church who wants to hear nothing more than an accurate transcribing of the Biblical text.

Arcand's screenplay is very clever. While it's purpose is not simply to retell the story of Christ in a modern (at least it was modern in the 1980s) setting, it does create some really interesting parallels between Daniel and Jesus, the finding of which will be a treat for those with a strong knowledge of the gospel narratives. There are some quite obvious parallels; the gathering of Daniel's troupe can be seen to mirror Jesus' calling of disciples; the scene in which Daniel overturns the lights and equipment at the advertising shoot when he is outraged by the mistreatment of the actresses; there is a scene in which a lawyer tries to tempt Daniel with fame and fortune; the fact that Daniel's sharing of a radical message attracts opposition from the religious establishment; and of course there is the end of the story (which you can half guess for yourself). But there are also more subtle parallels. The film opens at a theatre performance. After the show the critics hail the lead actor's performance, calling him "The finest actor of his generation", but seeing Daniel out of the corner of his eye he corrects them, "There is a good actor." This character parallels John the Baptist, pointing people to the Christ figure that is Daniel. There are other details which create parallels between this seemingly minor character and John the Baptist (for example the advertising executive insisting that she "wants his head" for her next campaign).

One thing that does hurt the film today is the fact that it has dated quite badly. It looks and sounds very 80s. Some films manage a timeless quality, this one definitely does not. The score, with it's mix of orchestral and electronic music, is particularly hard to ignore.

Arcand's film, Jesus of Montreal, is not a film of faith. It does not make a declaration either way as to who it claims Jesus to be. It is not concerned with his divinity. What it is concerned with is his teaching, his lifestyle, his human existence. Taking any claims about the divinity and messiahdom of Jesus of Nazareth out of the picture, this film simply seeks to show just how subversive and radical the teachings and example of Christ are when they are practiced rather than simply preached. A very powerful and thought provoking film.