For any of you who do not know Pasolini, he was a reactionary leftist marxist critic, poet, essayist, and film maker. He was clubbed to death by a gay prostitute in the fishing village of Austia. He supposedly found a Gideon Bible in a hotel in the USA, read the book of Matthew and decided it would make a trippy movie. He named it the gospel according to Matthew, omitting saint b/c he felt saints weren't important. The film is brilliant considering Pasolini went to the poorest part of Southern Italy and used non actors, many of whom were illiterate. He kept their dialect and even Italian audiences wanted subtitles. I am Italian and have lived in Italy, trust me it is not a place to play around with the Catholic Church! This movie was gutsy and personal for him. I think it is devastatingly beautiful and takes both a loving and brusque look