The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)

The life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a Marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.

Director:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Writer:

Pier Paolo Pasolini

Stars:

Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Enrique Irazoqui	...	Cristo
Margherita Caruso	...	Maria (giovane)
Susanna Pasolini	...	Maria (vecchia)
Marcello Morante	...	Giuseppe
Mario Socrate	...	Giovanni Battista
Settimio Di Porto	...	Pietro
Alfonso Gatto	...	Andrea
Luigi Barbini	...	Giacomo
Giacomo Morante	...	Giovanni
Giorgio Agamben	...	Filippo
Guido Cerretani	...	Bartolomeo
Rosario Migale	...	Tommaso
Ferruccio Nuzzo	...	Matteo
Marcello Galdini	...	Giacomo figlio di Alfeo
Elio Spaziani	...	Taddeo

Storyline

Along a rocky, barren coastline, Jesus begins teaching, primarily using parables. He attracts disciples; he's stern, brusque, and demanding. He comes to bring a sword, not peace, he says. He's in a hurry, moving from place to place near the Sea of Galilee, sometimes attracting a multitude, sometimes being driven away. His parables often take on the powers that be, so he and his teachings come to the attention of the Pharisees, the chief priests, and elders. They conspire to have him arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified, just as he prophesied to his followers. After he dies, he appears to his disciples and gives them final instructions.

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Plot Keywords:

black and white | jesus christ | palestine | judea | galilee | 

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Taglines:

A Motion Picture which will be seen by the entire world - up to the end of the world!

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy France

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

3 March 1965 (France)

Also Known As:

The Gospel According to St. Matthew

Filming Locations:

Apulia, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arco Film, Lux Compagnie Cinématographique de France

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min 91 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

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Goofs

When they are taking Christ down from the cross, in the distance you can see a car driving around a corner.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Christ: All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy ghost teaching them to obey all the commandments I have given you. Behold, I am with you always, unto the end of the world.

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Alternate Versions

The 2007 DVD release features a colorized, English-dubbed version with a run time of 91 minutes and an Italian-language black and white version running 136 minutes.

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Connections

Edited into Ten Minutes Older: The Cello (2002)

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Soundtracks

Fuga (Ricercata) a 6, Nr. 2
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
(arr. Anton Webern (as Anton von Webern))
from "Das Musikalische Opfer", BWV 1079

User Reviews

The life of Christ

This is a movie of the biggest celebrity that has ever lived, Jesus.Enrique Irazoqui performs Jesus in this Pier Paulo Pasolini's masterpiece from 1964.Pasolini liked to use amateur actors in his films but all the actors still do a very fine job in this film.Pretty often you get to see American Jesus in movies like Willem Dafoe's perform in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ but this time the son of God speaks Italian.I saw Il Vangelo secondo Matteo on Easter and this is a perfect Easter movie.You don't have to read the Bible to watch this movie.You learn everything you want to know about Jesus from this movie.In this film Jesus isn't a long haired and bearded guy as he usually has been performed.Who knows what the man looked like.Many people say this is the best Jesus movie ever made.I can't say it is because I haven't seen them all but this a great movie anyway.Everything works perfectly even though this movie didn't have a big budget.The special effects weren't the main star in this movie but the actors were. I recommend this movie for every good human being.