The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964)

 Pier Paolo Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew"

Despite much of the Italian neo-realist movement venturing into the territory of the 'Italian-Style Comedy' in the 1960s, there were many filmmakers who kept the movement alive. Pier Paolo Pasolini was one of them. By using the neo-realist lens to adapt the Gospel of Matthew, Pasolini depicted the journey of Jesus with such a visceral intimacy and palpable realism unlike anything seen before. "The Gospel According to St. Matthew," in my humble opinion is the greatest depiction of the Christ story ever put to film. This is quite an accomplishment, given the fact that Pasolini was a staunch atheist, homosexual, and Marxist. 

Pasolini's lack of alignment with the church obviously caused controversy during its filming. However, Pasolini ensured that the film maintained accuracy with its source text. He even added a disclaimer at the beginning of the film which stating that the Passion of the Christ was "the greatest [story] that ever took place." True to his convictions, "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" does not bastardize its subjects or offer any additional metatextual commentary. 

If anything, Pasolini was able to redistribute the true spirit of the gospels and set them amongst the backdrop of modern religious hypocrisy. By maintaining the purity of the gospels' vocabulary and remaining unchanged in its story, we see the Christ in his purest and most direct form. He challenged the church, stood for the economically destitute, and raged against capitalism and industry. 

At a 1966 press conference, Pasolini was asked why he, un unbeliever, would make such a film dealing with religious themes. He responded, "If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for belief." Pasolini seems to be suggesting that, despite the hypocrisy of the church, the fundamentalist beliefs espoused by Jesus are not without moral and spiritual merits. The belief in these moral certainties - respect for thy neighbor, charity to the impoverished, and rigorous devotion to justice - are all lost in modernity.

Pasolini using the traditional Italian approach of neo-realism also seemed like a rebellion against the more Hollywood-esque romanticization and theatricality of the telling of the Jesus story. The lack of ornamentation of a story that typically employs it allows for the viewer to experience the story with a more intimate capacity. There are certain scenes that feel as though we are merely observers to the actions of the story, inhabiting the world in the same way the observant disciples do. 

The neo-realism makes the Christ feel more alive and ever-present with the downtrodden and outcast. This was precisely the thematic means integral to the concepts of neo-realism. The British Film Institute commented that the neo-realist approach gave the film a "lack of awed formality and soft-focus sentiment that sets it apart from Hollywood Bible studies." 

Although there were many who condemned the film upon its release, it was generally favorably received by both Christian audiences as well as filmmakers. Andrei Tarkovsky called the work "genius" and Martin Scorsese even took inspiration from the film to go on to make "The Last Temptation of Christ" two decades later. When the film was shown at the 25th Venice Film Festival, a crowd gathered to boo the film before its commencement, only to cheer and applaud after the film was over.

What makes "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" the greatest rendition of the Christ story is precisely what makes it one of the greatest works of art ever constructed. It's staunch realism allows for audiences to engage with the original gospel text with a more potent sense of observation and closeness. It does not propagate a metatextual romanticization of its text like a more commercial retelling. Most importantly, its a simplistic retelling of the greatest story humanity has ever told.