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| Source: Imdb |
This cryptic drama told the story of Jesus from the perspective of the
first female apostle, Mary of Magdala. The film exerted a curious pull with its
atmospheric score, minimalist visuals and sedate pace. It was all strangely
mesmerising, despite the numerous flaws of this project. First off, the script
was vague and based on the assumption that the audience knows the bible story of
Jesus quite well. There was not a lot of talk, but what little dialogue there
was came across as cryptic, even nonsensical. Instead of inspirational
speeches, there were vague insinuations. Sure, it gets you thinking, but not
always in a good way. Rather, it’s the struggle to grasp what they are saying,
to extract what little meaning is hidden in the words. And yet, over time, a hazy
picture does start to form, so I guess the film will leave you with a slightly
different perspective on the story, after all.
The cast
had a few names, mainly Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix and Chiwetel Ejiofor in the lead rolls. However, I got the feeling that, while they were trying hard in some scenes to
the point of overacting, they really didn’t care all that much in general. This,
combined with fairly long shots, provided too much time to think about and
analyse the performances, too much time to consider the actors beyond the roles.
They just did not fill their characters to the point where you felt like you
were watching them, and not the actors themselves. One of the only unreservedly good performance was
provided by Tahar Rahim as Judas.
Visually,
this was a curious piece. Very bleak, with a muted earth-colour palette. Simple
costumes and sets forced the focus even more onto the actors, which would have
made good casting all the more important. If a film is geared that much at not
distracting from the message through visual opulence, there has to be clearer
communication! Still, the visuals were beautiful in their simplicity.
Finally,
the score was fantastic. It fit the pictures perfectly and completed the film
in a way that the other elements couldn’t. It is the only reason why this film
has a noticeable emotional impact.
Inexplicably,
despite all this, the film was quite captivating. I’m not sure I would recommend
it for general viewing, though, as it provides very little entertainment value.
3/5 for its mysterious appeal.
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