La vie de Jésus (1997)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Bruno Dumont

Writer:

Bruno Dumont (scenario)

Release Date:

4 June 1997 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A social movie about life nowadays in the north of France. Freddy and his friends are all unemployed...

Plot Keywords:

Arab | Motorcycle | Seizure | Café | Male Nudity

Awards:

9 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

David Douche	...	Freddy
Marjorie Cottreel	...	Marie
Kader Chaatouf	...	Kader
Sébastien Delbaere	...	Gégé
Samuel Boidin	...	Michou
Steve Smagghe	...	Robert
Sébastien Bailleul	...	Quinquin
Geneviève Cottreel	...	Freddy's mother (Yvette)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Suzanne Berteloot	...	Infirmière (as Suzanne Bertelot)
Jeanne	...	Freddy's mother (Double for nude scenes)
Sophie Ruckebusch	...	Majorette

Also Known As:

The Life of Jesus (USA)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Norway:15 | Singapore:R(A) | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Bailleul, Nord, France

Company:

3B Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Kinomagazin: Das Schöne ist mein Dämon - Der Filmemacher Bruno Dumont" (2007)

Visual Story Telling

Each scene of this film grabs you. You want to *see* what is happening. As in Dumont's other film "L'Humanite", he has an intuitive grasp of what the viewer wants to see, where the human eye would naturally want to look. He is also a sensitive observer who understands human behavior in all its richness. Even though the main characters of his films are lowlives who we would probably not have much in common with, we appreciate them as human beings. He never makes fun of or degrades his characters. I disagree with the reviewer who said there is no development. I think there is a tremendous amount of development, but unlike a Hollywood film, he does not announce it with a surging musical score, a change in lighting, and other such cheap tricks. Instead, we observe a character moving beyond the grief of his brother's death when he bites off the knot of a mourning cloth he tied to his wrist. This is a great film by a great director.