Jesus of Montreal

We've had this Jesus of Montreal DVD on the shelf for quite a while. I'm not sure why it has taken us so long to see it. It's a shame there's a scene of actors doing a porn scene for a radio show, because otherwise I'd be recommending it to church folks. The film is thought-provoking, intended to be a modern-day parallel of the story of Jesus of Nazareth.

It's a Canadian movie from 1989. I'm unfamiliar with the director or the actors.

trailer:

via youtube:

It won the Jury Prize at Cannes. It's on the Arts & Faith list of 100 Most Spiritually Significant Films, which says, "the actor's life takes on an allegorical dimension as he becomes a sort of Christ-figure: he inspires his fellow thespians, he confounds the secular authorities, and, ultimately, he dies for his artistic integrity."

Rolling Stone describes it as, "a sharply perceptive satire of modern Christianity". EW gives it a C- and says it "flits between the smug and the ersatz mystical." TimeOut says, "Even if you're normally scared off by things theological, this visually elegant, uncluttered movie is serious fun." Salon.com has a review that says, "Arcand’s film is a satire meant to address the obnoxious, money-worshipping 80s, of course, but it has a graceful way of doing so, weaving a parallel text to the Jesus of the Gospels, and rarely veering into preachiness." Roger Ebert gives it 3 1/2 out of 4 stars ad says, "It's an original and uncompromising attempt to explore what really might happen, if the spirit of Jesus were to walk among us in these timid and materialistic times."

Rotten Tomatoes has a critics score of 79%.