The Book of Life
by Hal Hartley
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Anna Köhler, Martin Donovan, Miho Nikaido, P.J. Harvey, Thomas Jay RyanDirector: Hal Hartley
Writer: Hal Hartley
Producer: Carole Scotta
Producer: Caroline Benjo
Producer: Chelsea Fuhrer
Producer: Jerome Brownstein
Producer: Matthew Myers
Producer: Pierre Chevalier
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 63 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-11-07
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Fox Lorber
Movie Reviews of The Book of Life
Movie Review: Mercy In The Hour of Our Death
Summary: 5 Stars
"Do YOU believe you have a soul?" Comparatively, Hal Hartley's apocalyptic "The Book of Life" seems far more relevant today than it did just several years ago reflecting late 90s Y2K hysteria as we approached the end of the millenium. An illusory state of grace? Hey, God only knows.
In this retelling of the Apocalypse, PJ Harvey as Magdalena, and Jesus and Satan, played by indie actor extraordinaires Martin Donovan[Trust, Saved!, Hollow Reed] and Thomas Jay Ryan[Henry Fool], gather to contemplate and debate God's endtime wrath as Jesus opens the remaining few of the Seven Seals, unleashing his father's final fury on mankind - by way of computer, naturally.
Luckily for mankind, however, ole peacenik Jesus doesn't quite share the same zeal for divine vengeance as his Old Man, and threatens ultimate rebellion by refusing to engage in such dirty work. "Panicked by both the legitimacy and hopelessness of their cries, I rose to the occasion, and lied."
Much like the compelling and disturbing movie "The Rapture," this unique telling relies heavily on dialogue, while using visuals to imply our perception of reality blending into a stream of familiarity which blinds us to elementary truths. We're given what we interpret to be the human aspects within the conversations, inner reflections, and cut-away monlogues of Jesus and Satan...
Satan: Are you saying what I think you're saying?
Jesus: I won't judge the living and the dead. I hate this exclusive "closed door" policy. Who do these "christians" think they are anyway?!
Satan: My friend, you speak heresy...worse, revolution.
As one might expect, some of the more substantive dialogue is attributed to Ole Scratch, done with the appropriate undertones and dramatic flourishes of Thomas Jay Ryan [if you haven't seen Henry Fool, by all means, do], illustrating his simultaneous melancholic sympathy for, and mocking resentment toward mankind.
His sights are set on claiming a final soul before The Big Day, and settles on a man who, in seeing a large commerical airliner pass overhead in NYC, sees a sinister omen of things to come. They go into a diner, strike up a conversation, but it's merely child's play for Lucifer; some thinly veiled maneuvering as he tempts the man. Yet, as the two debate Big Issues, how odd it is to hear Satan arguing *against* the concept of Love as a basic survival mechanism of our species:
"So if we're all just biological accidents, how do you explain Love?" ..."I can imagine all too well, that's my problem. I can imagine everything too well; a person's capacity for sacrifice, someone's life ruined by a simply misunderstanding, the possibility of disaster in just reaching out to shake somone's hand, the crippling of a person's self esteem by an overheard remark....how can I be responsible for all of that?
Every intimacy engenders expectation, and every expectation, some unknown disappointment."
That's some pretty good stuff. Definitely a metaphysical intriguer to be enjoyed, if you're in tune at all. It's also funny seeing Martin Donovan as a reflective Jesus in this, compared with his recent role in the satirical "Saved!;" "...Let's get our Christ on!" Likewise recommended viewing.
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