Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Along a rocky, barren coastline, Jesus begins teaching, primarily using parables. He attracts disciples; he's stern, brusque, and demanding. 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.
Pasolini's rendering of the Gospel is one of cinema's most singular achievements — a Marxist atheist's austere, deeply reverent retelling shot in stark neorealist black-and-white on rocky Italian landscapes doubling for Judea. Cinematography is exceptional: Tonino Delli Colli's handheld, documentary-rough imagery gives the film an almost newsreel urgency rarely found in biblical epics. Novelty is very high — the decision to use only Matthew's text verbatim, cast non-professionals, and frame Christ as a fierce, demanding revolutionary rather than a serene icon is genuinely unlike anything before or since. Acting is deliberately raw and non-theatrical, which suits the film's aesthetic but limits emotional range. The plot is constrained by strict fidelity to scripture, offering little dramatic shaping of its own. The ending (crucifixion and resurrection) is handled with restraint and power but, like much of the film, relies on the source material's inherent weight rather than cinematic invention.