The Body
by Jonas McCord
List Price:
Our Price: $7.96
You Save: $2.03 (20%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.47 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Antonio Banderas, Derek Jacobi, Jason Flemyng, John Shrapnel, Olivia WilliamsDirector: Jonas McCord
Brand: Sony
Writer: Jonas McCord
Producer: Diane Isaacs
Producer: Limor Diamant
Producer: Mark Damon
Producer: Moshe Diamant
Producer: Nathalie Kassirer
Writer: Richard Sapir
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-07-03
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Body
Movie Review: Superb, engaging religious film...
Summary: 5 Stars
I never would have expected to find such a deep message about faith in such a secular movie, but The Body was better than I heard it was. The movie is about an Israeli archaeologist who believes she has found the body of Christ hidden in an ancient secret tomb behind a rich man's tomb, her theory being that the disciples hid the body in the secret tomb and continued to proclaim that Christ rose from the dead. Antonio Banderas plays a Catholic priest sent by the Vatican to prove that it isn't Christ's body. And this movie has a lot. It goes deep into the attention to the details of Christ's death as recorded in the gospels. It touches on the Shroud of Turin. It explains various archaeological methods of dating. It has characters from Christian, Jewish, and Islamic backgrounds, and it deals with the questions of religion v. politics v. science as well as faith v. evidence, and also, was Christ only a good man and a good teacher, or was He God? Is that important? Plus, it's got a good deal of modern Hebrew in it (being a student of modern Hebrew, that got me really excited). The heated discussions between Catholic Antonio Banderas and his agnostic archaeologist counterpart are engaging, and I found myself enjoying his "subtle style of Jesuitical debate."
But what impressed me most was that this movie could say so many nice things about Jesus. I thought that Hollywood wouldn't let the J-word onto the big screen unless it was to take it in vain, but this movie goes against that trend.
If I have one fault to pick with this movie, it's that, in the end, it doesn't offer a very favorable portrayal of the Catholic church, and I'm quite tired of seeing Catholics portrayed as the bad guys. Still, this movie has enough originality and intrigue about it to warrant five stars. If discussing religious philosophy is something you like to do, buy this movie.
Summary of The Body
BODY - DVD MovieWhy is the career of Antonio Banderas so troubled? Because the man is unquestionably a movie star. Even in a movie like The Body--in which he plays a priest sent by the Vatican to investigate whether or not a skeleton found in a tomb in Jerusalem is in fact the bones of Jesus Christ, a movie that reduces complex questions of faith and theology to plot points on a screenplay formula, a movie that manages to be simultaneously preposterous and mundane--even in a movie like this, Banderas is engaging. He's phenomenally good-looking; he's both intelligent and emotionally accessible; he's funny and passionate; why have only genre pictures (such as The Mask of Zorro and Desperado) so far managed to capture his charm and warmth? His five films with exuberant Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, Law of Desire, Matador, Labyrinth of Passion, and Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!) showed Banderas to be a versatile actor, capable of tackling sophisticated parts with both comic and serious edges. But Hollywood doesn't seem to know what to do with him; it's dismaying to think that the numerous duds that litter his filmography are actually the best choices he's been offered. The Body is far from his worst film--the cinematography is superb, and though the script is trying to tackle religious and political issues far beyond its grasp, the dialogue is reasonably well written and the characters have some dimension to them--but why is an actor as sexy as Banderas being cast as a priest? Please, someone, give this man the roles he deserves! --Bret Fetzer
Once Upon a Time in MexicoBANDERAS,ANTONIO; Release date: 2004-01-20; DVD
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
The Big BangABE; Release date: 2011-05-24; DVD
Best price: $4.73
Price in other shops:
From Paris with LoveLions Gate; Release date: 2010-06-08; DVD
Best price: $4.65
Price in other shops:
And Starring Pancho Villa As HimselfHBO HOME VIDEO; Release date: 2004-05-11; DVD
Best price: $2.51
Price in other shops:
Of Love and ShadowsLions Gate; Release date: 2011-05-17; DVD
Best price: $6.34
Price in other shops:
Body Double (Widescreen Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2006-10-03; DVD
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops:
Imagining ArgentinaUniversal Studios; Release date: 2005-10-11; DVD
Best price: $4.79
Price in other shops:
Original Sin (Unrated Version)MGM; Release date: 2002-03-26; DVD
Best price: $6.08
Price in other shops:
Take the LeadNEW Line Home Video; Release date: 2006-08-29; Published: 2006-08-01; DVD
Best price: $2.79
Price in other shops:
Never Talk to StrangersSony; Release date: 1999-07-27; DVD
Best price: $1.50
Price in other shops: