EilisNiGhliasain Do you feel like shaking up your philosophical and/or religious foundation in this spring of 2018? If so, this film by Denys Arcand is for you.A great movie for Easter, "Jesus de Montreal" tells the story of a young, idealistic actor in Montreal who sets up - with the help of his talented troupe - a "Passion Play" for the local Catholic bishop in the heart of Mount Royal. And the production goes way beyond what society and clergy expect.Lothaire Bluteau and Catherine Wilkenning give their hearts and souls to their roles of Daniel / Jesus of Montreal and Mireille / Mary Magdalene. And the rest of the ensemble - Remy Girard, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Gilles Pelletier and Robert Lepage - add equal measures to the beauty and production of the story.1990 Genie Award for Best Motion Picture.

sol- Asked to helm a stage play about the life of Jesus Christ that would appeal to modern audiences, a Montreal stage actor sparks controversy when his play proves a success due to its blasphemous nature in this Canadian drama. While there are some amusing moments early on (especially as he sets about recruiting actors who dub adult films), the movie is rather slow to warm up with the juice of the material only really emerging in the film's second half. That said, 'Jesus of Montreal' is encapsulating at its best as the protagonist becomes more and more like Christ while rehearsing (and playing) the role and as the Church figures start to show their real colours with their sponsoring of his show; "not everyone can afford psychoanalysis, so they come here" bluntly states one such official at a pivotal point. There is also much to like in how innovative the play is, with audience members literally walking around as the cast members change location, and there is a fun irony in how the play captures larger audiences than anything else ever sponsored by the Catholic Church, though for what they believe to be the wrong reasons. Some elements of the film may be a little over-the-top, such as an angry fit during an advert audition; one's mileage may also vary depending on one's familiarity with the biblical elements paralleled here, but this is generally solid stuff.

MartinHafer Okay, at the outset I must point out that some who watch this film might be offended. The passion play that is portrayed in the film contains quite a bit of non-Biblical material that tends to humanize Jesus and de-emphasize his divinity. A literal interpretation of the life and death of Christ, this is not! Also, Catholic hierarchy are deliberately compared to the Pharisees who persecuted Jesus and some Catholics might feel very uncomfortable with this. In addition, in parts of the play, Jesus is played naked. At first, this shocked me, but this was much more accurate than the usual loincloth portrayal of him--shocking, but not sacrilegious to me. So parents might want to think twice about letting the kids see this, or at least the would want to discuss the film with them.The film started relatively slowly, so I recommend you suspend your judgment until you've seen it all. A relatively unknown actor is asked by a hypocritical priest to re-write and perform the passion play at a shrine in Montreal, Canada. The play is quite a departure from the norm, as some of the actors are clearly not the "nice" sort of folks you'd expect to be doing religious plays. For example, one does voice dubbing for pornographic films and another does crappy ads that rely on her body more than her acting skills (a 20th century variation on followers like Mary Magdalene and other sinners--this was clever). These choices actually made sense as did many of the occurrences in the film because they were meant to be symbolic of the life of Christ. The characters themselves didn't realize this, but throughout the film they mirror the story from the Gospels. After a while, the actor who plays Jesus begins to lose himself in the role--acting out scenes such as chasing the money-lenders out of the temple and the actual death and resurrection of Christ. All the parallels are too many to repeat here, but someone with a decent knowledge of the life of Jesus will often notice the parallels.In many ways, the final results can be both affirming to believers yet frustrating as well. Frustration at some of the offensive lines of dialog and the way they've made the life of Christ rather revisionistic (saying that salvation is an individual thing--de-emphasizing Christ's part in this and making it more "touchy-feely"). But the script is so very clever and manages to also make Jesus come alive, in a sense, as the central messages are proclaimed well. Plus, after the death of Jesus in the film, it does a good job of showing how the message and legacy continues. Overall, an excellent and compelling film that is sure to make an impact on the viewer.By the way, this film was released on DVD by Koch-Lorber. While this company has a great track record for bringing independent and foreign films to DVDs, they also usually lack any sort of meaningful bonus materials. For the feature film, I give it an A. For the extras, I give them a D-.PS--Like the great BARBARIAN INVASIONS (also by the same director and starring some of the same cast), this film was highly critical of the Canadian health care system--showing it was being uncaring and overwhelmed. These two films make an interesting counter-point to Michael Moore's SICKO, which tends to glorify this same system!

jonny-griffiths I first saw this film maybe fifteen years ago, and it had a profound impact. The plot is not original: an actor is recruited by a church to play Jesus in a Passion play, and as he works himself into the part, he becomes increasingly Christ-like. (Nicos Kazantzakis took a similar line in his novel 'Christ Recrucified.') However, its modern-day setting and iconoclastic approach mean that 'Jesus of Montreal' really does have a flavour all of its own.The church that has recruited him in the first place becomes alarmed at the radical interpretation he and his carefully-picked cast give the Passion narrative, and nervous at the hit they have on their hands. The parallels between Christ's life and that of the young hero become closer and closer, when he destroys the equipment a set of a morally bankrupt advertising agency (a la Jesus throwing out the money-makers from the Temple.) The film is packed with humour: the lead actor is interrogated and then arrested by the local police at whilst still on the cross.So does the Resurrection happen too? In a way it does. Our hero dies, crushed by the weight of the cross during a performance. Tragic, but there is a kind of redemption in that his youth makes his organs highly desirable. The film shows the beneficiaries of his death, a woman given sight with a new retina, a man walking with a new heart, and a boy given a new kidney. A situation turned inside out, just as in the actual Easter story.