The Gospel According to St. Matthew
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Enrique Irazoqui, Marcello Morante, Margherita Caruso, Mario Socrate, Susanna PasoliniBrand: WELLSPRING/GENIUS
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language); English (Published)
Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 136 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-03-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Legend
Movie Reviews of The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Movie Review: Colorized Butchering is Still Enjoyable, and OK, Since the Original, UNCUT B/W Movie is a Bonus Feature! Affordable Classic!
Summary: 5 Stars
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, by the Italian director, Piers Paulo Pasolini is an excellent and intense telling of the Bible story, in a low budget, yet very engaging way! This may possibly be the "coolest" Bible movie ever, from an art house cinema perspective.
The movie has an odd, yet intense feel to it. The director shoots many closeups of faces while people are thinking, and it is very effective. It feels a bit odd at first, but you get used to it fast.
The Bible story is done in a low budget way, but what they lack in budget is more than redeemed by the TONS and TONS of dialogue quoting Bible Scripture more relentlessly than any other Bible DVD that I can think of! If someone said it in the Book of Matthew, in the Bible, then you will very likely hear someone say it in this DVD, or at least, anything said by an actor in this film is probably a dialogue quote straight out of the Bible!
All this talky-ness is well balanced by many scenes of loong silences while people are thinking, or while new scenes are being introduced and set. You might be wondering what you are looking at, then you suddenly realize which Bible scene they are portraying! There is very little in this film that is not a Bible scene!
One thing you may notice is that most of the men actors DO NOT have beards! This is probably not accurate to the Bible era depicted, yet it helps make each face and actor much more unique and intense, and allows greater facial expressions to emerge! You often see people thinking during scenes, and it is MORE realistic due to their facial expressions.
The film starts out with about 20 minutes about the birth of Jesus. The actress playing Mary is very pretty, and she has perfect medieval looks, just like an old painting! Joseph, the Angel Gabriel, Herod, and the Wise Men are all good, too!
The actor playing Jesus is young and petite, yet very intense and driven! He constantly spews Bible dialog in a very serious way, which is very engrossing. The actor plays Jesus as being relentlessly serious about His mission and getting things done according to Scripture and the Father's will!
After getting baptised, by John the Baptist, of course, the adult Jesus is the main actor for the rest of the film. Satan, Peter, Judas, and a few others have good, small appearances, but most of the film shows Jesus talking to people, or healing people in crowds and such.
Ever since THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, everybody else's scenes of the Crucifixion seem very tame, and this movie is no exception, but this movie is a much better witnessing tool, to explain the life of Christ, than any other single movie I can think of. There is a very good TV mini-series on DVD called JESUS OF NAZARETH, which is also very good, but it is 6 hours long, so this, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, is a much more manageable viewing time for most audiences.
The main movie on this DVD is the 90 minute, edited, COLORIZED version, using English dubbed over. They do a very good job of timing the English to when the actors' mouths are moving, but it does rush the dialog a little bit, at times. It is tolerable, though.
This COLORIZED DVD is fun, yet not very well edited, especially since they had to colorize frame by frame (I suppose), it is not uncommon to hear glitches in the dialog, at least a few times, as if a small chunk of the film had been spliced, like a beat up copy of the film! This is not overwhelming, but it is noticeable a few times.
The saving grace is that you get the complete movie, 40 minutes longer, in the original Italian language, with English subtitles, on the Bonus Feature menu! You can't beat this DVD at this affordable price, and being such a great film to watch! Watching the Colorized version is also fun, and helps me to see details that I never noticed in the B/W version!
This is the 3rd time I have bought this film on DVD, and I think it is the best way! I also own the $25 B/W, Italian language only version, and I STILL would recommend getting this COLORIZED DVD first, and would probably even forget about the expensive Italian version after getting this one! The $25 version has a 30 minute Italian language documentary (with English subtitles) about the director, Piers Paulo Pausolini, but it is actually a letdown to learn about this fellow, (a confirmed atheist and communist!), yet he meant to make THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW from the perspective of a believer, and I think he succeeded greatly in the effort!
In the Bible, Paul says he doesn't care if some preachers are preaching for bad reasons, so long as Christ is being preached. That is the case with THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW, directed by atheist/communist Piers Paulo Pasolini. The Gospel is being preached, regardless of the personal views of the director, he stays true to the Bible telling of the story!
If you like Bible stories on DVD, then this is a MUST HAVE DVD for your Bible DVD library!
Summary of The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Christ's life is presented with respect for the traditional religious doctrine of the Church but Pasolini's trademark naturalism humanizes his subject and makes him his own. The documentary-style camera captures Christ's meetings with the men who were to become his disciples the Last Supper the betrayal by Judas and the Crucifixion. The impassioned music of Bach Mozart and Prokofiev lends a further aura of spiritual intensity to the proceedings.System Requirements:Runtime: 90 minsFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: MISCELLANEOUS/SPECIAL INTEREST Rating: NR UPC: 796019799492 Manufacturer No: 79949Similar DVD Movies
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