The Gospel According to Saint Matthew

Starring:Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, Susanna Pasolini, Marcello Morante, Mario Socrate, Settimio Di Porto, Alfonso Gatto, Luigi Barbini, Giacomo Morante, Giorgio Agamben, Guido Cerretani, Rosario Migale, Ferruccio Nuzzo, Marcello Galdini, Elio Spaziani, Enzo Siciliano, Otello Sestili, Rodolfo Wilcock, Alessandro Clerici, Amerigo Bevilacqua
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Studio: Brentwood Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Customer Reviews:

Yet more misfires from Waterbearer.......2004-02-02

Unfortunately, Waterbearer didn't correct any of the problems that plagued their first set of Pasolini DVD's: the transfers are all sub-par, with burned-in subtitles (that are sometimes very wrong: did you know that one of the ten commandments is "thou shalt not steel"?) and no chapter stops. The discs are overpriced, especially considering that, despite what it says on the back of the case, none of the discs appear to have undergone any restoration whatsoever.

Pasolini was a master filmmaker, and it's a shame that only one of his films (The Decameron) has a quality Region 1 release. The others (the six released by Waterbearer and Vanguard's release of Medea) are poor transfers that simply don't do justice to this great man's life work.

For now, however, Pasolini fans stuck in Region 1 (I understand superior editions of most of his films exist in Region 2) are limited to these sub-par releases. If you're a Pasolini fan, I'd advise you to buy the discs used, because what Waterbearer's asking for these discs is ridiculous.

1 masterpiece, 1 exceptional film & 1 controversial fable.......2003-11-30

This three-film box set includes Pasolini's exceptional debut film (ACCATTONE), his first masterpiece - one of the greatest films I have seen (THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW), plus his controversial political fable (THE HAWKS AND THE SPARROWS). I have written about these DVDs individually elsewhere at Amazon.com. Each disc includes the same half-hour 1970 documentary on Pasolini, but no other features. The Pasolini Foundation in Rome, which controls all rights to these films, supplied the prints: good quality for ACCATTONE and HAWKS but not for THE GOSPEL (my Amazon review offers a suggestion on how to adjust your TV to make it look better). The Pasolini Foundation also had the U.S. distributor release the DVDs without any chapters (i.e., in one continuous track), to encourage people to watch each picture in its entirety. Despite those limitations, all these films are very much worth seeing.

Average customer rating:

3 *** for Legend's 2007 DVD, 5 ***** for Pasolini's film
Bible Movie Classic
THE ONE AND THE ONLY ESSENTIAL EVANGELICAL FILM
Humble Authenticity
The Gospel According to St. Matthew

The Gospel According to Saint Matthew
Starring: Enrique Irazoqui , Margherita Caruso , Susanna Pasolini , Marcello Morante , and Mario Socrate
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Manufacturer: Brentwood Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00062IZC2
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Amazon.com

Released in 1964, The Gospel According to St. Matthew marks an important shift away from the gritty urban realism of Pasolini's earlier films towards the visionary imagery of his later work. A committed but far from conformist Marxist, Pasolini took a powerful and immediate approach, with no false piety or sentimentality. Employing a cast drawn largely from the peasantry of Southern Italy, where the film was shot, the action has the feel of a mystery play reenacted for the camera. Enrique Irazoqui's Christ is part folk hero, part political agitator, but always pursuing his destiny with unswerving conviction. The disciples make for vivid contrasts in facial expression, while Susanna Pasolini (mother of) is unforgettable as Mary, distraught at the Crucifixion. The recourse to handheld cameras and zoom sequences is well ahead of its time, while the almost jump-cut editing and diverse soundtrack--including Bach, Mozart and the Missa Luba--enhance the sense of action being experienced as it happens. A classic of post-war cinema which has lost none of its urgent humanity. --Richard Whitehouse

Customer Reviews:

3 *** for Legend's 2007 DVD, 5 ***** for Pasolini's film.......2007-05-14

The information Legend provides on the back cover of the DVD is confusing/misleading/mistaken...

Legend's DVD contains two versions of The Gospel According to St. Matthew ...

Version #1

- Colorized
- Dubbed in English
- No Subtitles
- Approx 90 minutes (not the complete film)
- Anamorphic widescreen
- Playable from the Main Menu

Version #2

- Black and white
- in Italian
- With English subtitles that are always on
- Approx 137 minutes (the complete film)
- Widescreen, but not anamorphic
- Playable from Special Features
- Pasolini's great film speaks for itself
- Thank you Legend for making a watchable, complete version of the film available

Bible Movie Classic.......2007-05-12

A lesser known movie , but ranks up there with the CLASSICS.

THE ONE AND THE ONLY ESSENTIAL EVANGELICAL FILM.......2007-04-02

I now have both the English overdubbed version and the English subtitled version. As far as I can tell there is not available here an Italian only version made from an original master restored with the skill and grace of Criterion, nor a version which lets you choose to cancel the subtitles or change languages, and this is the only gripe about this great cinematic presentation of the first Gospel (first in the Canon, not in the chronology).

I must therefore choose between a version in which scenes seem to have been cut and the speed turned up and English imposed, or a more authentic version seen through the spider's veil of white English letters across the entire bottom half of the screen, blocking the gripping visuals and the profoundly sincere faces of the nonprofessional actors.

Nevertheless, this film remains in every way the one cinematic production of the Gospels we ever need watch, and need watch again. It is hard to believe it is over forty years since my father first brought me to see this movie at a public theatre, and I find it now as fresh and compelling and communicative in a near sacramental way as then. It is a true epiphany and a revelation.

The Virgin Mary is astonishingly authentic and appropriate. The director no doubt heard Saint Bernadette Soubirous's observation that every representation of the Virgin which she saw in painting or in sculpture was far too old.

Here the young Mary appears fifteen or younger, and has a face which speaks volumes with one gaze, or silent squint. This is truly the best Mary ever filmed, and the most memorable, and she actually fuels earnest and true devotion, unlike most any other film or staged photo, especially Zefarelli`s (sp.). All else looks like Monty Python in artificiality after contemplating this pure young Virgin Mary.

For this reason alone may we thank Pasolini. Within this young Mary we see a woman capable of hearing the Annunciation with more understanding, trust and courage than would be possible in any other human soul, a Mary capable of the valiant Visitation, and a Mary capable of that greatest revolutionary prayer, the Magnificat, long chanted in traditional monastic choirs long before the Hail Mary was ever pieced together. She shows great courage despite her uncertainty at the Epiphany. And she conveys this all within this film without a spoken word.

Of course the older Mary at the Crucifixion and the Resurrection was played equally effectively by Pasolini's own mother, sharing with us fully her agony, the sword which pierced her heart, and her ultimate joy and hope at the resurrection.

There is so much which is great about this movie and so far I have mentioned only one character. Watch Peter as he goes out to weep bitterly after the triple denial, or John, the Beloved Apostle. Saint John the Baptist, the only Saint to predecease Jesus, is so excellent in a modern, prophetic, verbal, preaching, intellectual and professional manner that he seems from a different movie, or time, as he was. Clearly he has the intellectual courage to confront Herod and any other earthly power. Saint Joseph is quietly amazing, as he hears the advice of the Angel and does not put Mary aside quietly but trusts in Faith and takes on his great responsibility. The Angel is absolutely amazing, authentic, awe-inspiring, confidence inspiring. Please see this film.

Herod also gets his job done as a corrupt ruler who rots in his own greed and corruption and violence. The scene of deceiving the Magi, his death among his court, and the rest are very well done. The scene of his soldiers slaughtering all the young and baby boys in a desparate attempt to annihilate the Messiah must call to mind the insane and stupid violence against helpless children of our present time, yet these scenes might be easily overlooked in our contemplation of the many uplifting scenes.

Jesus is played strongly and with authority by a young university student from Madrid. The scenes of the temptation in the desert and the Sermon on the Mount demand and reward repeated viewing, as well of course as the Passion, which Gibson could not make more effective with buckets of fake blood. This Passion in Pasolini truly wrenches your heart in ways which Gibson could not.

This film also contains as soundtrack the only remaining recording of the authentic Missa Luba, and also interesting insertions of Delta blues, one Robert Johnson style groans over slide giutar and the other pure Gospel, the great hymn and lamentation "Sometimes I feel like a Motherless Child" sung low and slow and mournfully, but the meaning of whose English lyrics might distract us from the purely musical intent of the director. Also included are snippets of Bach and Mozart, which seem more present in the Italian version.

Sorry for the long discussion of this important film. I encourage you to get both of these versions until Criterion can piece together a disk of their usual high and comprehensive quality wih all the options, and we can finally meditate the Gospel news in Italian without subtitles in a complete and original print. In the meantime we might skip the colorized version, which I have not seen and see no need to.

Keep this movie in your machine in heavy rotation, not just now in Holy Week. Please notice the very affectionate, glowing, warm and familiar dedication to the greatest and penultimate Italian Pope John XXIII, who had recently passed when this movie was made. The director's dedication sincerely homages his Holiness.

Humble Authenticity.......2007-03-19

`The Gospel According to Matthew' is a humble, bare-bones film that accentuates authenticity. Using rugged terrain and an intricate, stone village, famed Italian director Pasolini makes the scenes seem more real than any movie up to 'The Passion of the Christ'. Without any name actors, the scenes envelop a simplicity that is the movie's hallmark. This movie's Jesus is a sterner, more direct rendering than any in movie memory. While I may prefer subtitle's to English overdubs, the movie is at least easier to take in. However, the emotional appeal is lessened by their implementation of this method. Indeed, the emotional range, while deliberate at key times, is often wooden. Many instances people just stare, but then again they may be dumbstruck by Jesus. Also, better judgment could have been used. For instance, during Jesus's trial when there should have been more close ups. Nevertheless, Pasolini does get to the heart of the message. With scripture all but entirely in the script, one can hardly criticize the interpretations. If there is an accent mark, he frequently comes up with children, a nice touch. Unvarnished, 'The Gospel' doesn't have the glory of most modern films, but, even with the technical shortcomings, it is basic like scripture itself.

The Gospel According to St. Matthew.......2007-03-15

The Gospel According to St. Matthew directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, filmed in 1964, is the best rendition of the life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, placed on film. I wholeheartedly endorse the comments made in the March 14, 2004 review of the noted film critic, Roger Ebert, recommend this movie to believers and non-believers alike.

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