Jesus of Montreal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jesus of Montreal
Directed by	Denys Arcand
Produced by	Monique Létourneau
Written by	Denys Arcand
Starring	Lothaire Bluteau Catherine Wilkening Johanne-Marie Tremblay
Music by	Jean-Marie Benoît
Cinematography	Guy Dufaux
Editing by	Isabelle Dedieu
Distributed by	Koch-Lorber (Region 1 DVD)
Release date(s)	17 May 1989 (France) 25 May 1990 (USA)
Running time	118 minutes
Country	Canada France
Language	French

Jesus of Montreal (French: Jésus de Montréal) is a 1989 film by Quebec film director Denys Arcand.

Contents 1 Plot and allegory 2 Awards 3 Cast 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot and allegory

The film revolves around a group of actors in Montreal, Quebec hired by a Roman Catholic site of pilgrimage ("le sanctuaire") to present a Passion play in its gardens, with an actor named Daniel playing the role of Christ. The sanctuary is implied to be Saint Joseph's Oratory (although this organization actually refused permission to film there). However, the actors' interpretation of the life of Jesus is unconventional (including, for example, the statement that the biological father of Jesus was a Roman soldier, who left Palestine shortly afterwards), and although the challenging production becomes the toast of the city, the Roman Catholic Church strongly objects to its Biblical interpretation and forcefully stops the performances.

The film is structured so that Daniel's story parallels that of Christ. In the opening scene, one actor points to Daniel, calling him "a much better actor", which echoes John the Baptist foretelling the arrival of Jesus the Messiah. The first actor's head is later used in an advertisement, parallelling John the Baptist's beheading. The actors then gather for the Passion play, some of them leaving safe jobs to do so, recalling Jesus gathering the disciples. Daniel wrecks an advertising casting session, just as Jesus casts the money-lenders out of the Temple. His arrest and court appearance before an indecisive judge, played by the film's director himself, parallels Jesus' appearance before Pontius Pilate. The ambitious lawyer, who lays out a grand commercial career for Daniel, looking down from a skyscraper at the city, refers to the temptation of Christ by the devil atop a high pinnacle. Jesus' miracles, as well as His resurrection and ascension to Glory on the Father's right hand, are paralleled by the gift of Daniel's body as an organ donor, and the founding of the church becomes the plans for an experimental theatre company.

[edit] Awards

Jesus of Montreal won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival^[1] and the Genie Award for Best Canadian Film of 1989. It has twice been placed second on the TIFF List of Canada's Top Ten Films of All Time, and was nominated for the 1989 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

[edit] Cast

• Lothaire Bluteau (Daniel)
• Catherine Wilkening (Mireille)
• Johanne-Marie Tremblay (Constance)
• Rémy Girard (Martin)
• Robert Lepage (René)
• Gilles Pelletier (Fr. Leclerc)
• Roy Dupuis (Marcel Brochu)

[edit] See also

• Cinema of Quebec
• Culture of Quebec
• Dramatic portrayals of Jesus
• List of Quebec movies
• Passion (Christianity)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Cannes, Prix du Jury 1989
• Film Reference Library
• Jésus de Montréal at the Internet Movie Database
• Jesus of Montreal at the Arts & Faith: Top 100 Spiritually Significant Film list

Awards
Preceded by A Short Film About Killing	Jury Prize, Cannes 1989	Succeeded by Hidden Agenda

v • d • e Genie Award Winners for Best Motion Picture The Changeling (1980) • Les Bons débarras (1981) • Ticket to Heaven (1982) • The Grey Fox (1983) • The Terry Fox Story (1984) • The Bay Boy (1985) • My American Cousin (1986) • Le Déclin de l'empire américain (1987) • Un Zoo la nuit (1988) • Dead Ringers (1989) • Jésus de Montréal (1990) • Black Robe (1991) • Naked Lunch (1992) • Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993) • Exotica (1994) • The Confessional (1995) • Lilies (1996) • The Sweet Hereafter (1997) • The Red Violin (1998) • Sunshine (1999) • Maelström (2000) • Atanarjuat (2001) • Ararat (2002) • Les Invasions barbares (2003) • Les Triplettes de Belleville (2004) • C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) • Bon Cop, Bad Cop (2006) • Away from Her (2007) • Passchendaele (2008)