I had been impressed by this on first viewing (despite its being in French only), watched on another Good Friday several years ago; a second look (and the benefit of English subtitles) only reinforces its inherent quality. This is an absorbing, original, savage, funny, and frequently stunning piece of work - although, in view of its subject matter, it does have the occasional heavy-going passage. In fact, Jesus OF MONTREAL was expected to emerge victorious at that year's Academy Awards as the Best Foreign Language Film: facing stiff competition from the likes of CAMILLE CLAUDEL (1988) and CINEMA PARADISO (1989), the honor was eventually bestowed on the latter - a nostalgia piece with child interest, it was an altogether safer bet (though I've yet to catch the film in its entirety myself!)...
Despite their over-familiarity, the 'Passion Play' sequences are quite powerful - thanks also to excellent performances all around. Lothaire Bluteau is quietly impressive in the demanding central role (of an actor who eventually goes mad from playing Christ!); incidentally, he followed this with another spiritual film - BLACK ROBE (1991). Arcand seems to be one of the most interesting auteurs around, as the only other film of his that I've watched - THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (2004; which did win him an Oscar) - is also superb (apart from being equally thought-provoking and controversial). Speaking of which, I find Jesus OF MONTREAL to be superior to that other notorious Christ-movie of the day - Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF Christ (1988)...
Despite their over-familiarity, the 'Passion Play' sequences are quite powerful - thanks also to excellent performances all around. Lothaire Bluteau is quietly impressive in the demanding central role (of an actor who eventually goes mad from playing Christ!); incidentally, he followed this with another spiritual film - BLACK ROBE (1991). Arcand seems to be one of the most interesting auteurs around, as the only other film of his that I've watched - THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (2004; which did win him an Oscar) - is also superb (apart from being equally thought-provoking and controversial). Speaking of which, I find Jesus OF MONTREAL to be superior to that other notorious Christ-movie of the day - Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF Christ (1988)...