The Gospel According to St. Matthew plays as part of our Members' Summer Selection season, and was proposed by members Barbara Armstrong, Penny Averill, and John Forde, who writes: 'This year is the 50th anniversary of the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini. Though he’s probably better known for the disturbing Salò, his film of the life of Jesus is a stunning achievement, especially when you consider he was an atheist.'
A biblical epic that only the Marxist dissident Pier Paolo Pasolini could make, this intensely faithful adaptation of Saint Matthew’s Gospel depicts the life and teachings of Jesus Christ (Enrique Irazoqui, a Spanish economics student and Communist activist), whose unwavering compassion for the poor and defiant condemnation of moral hypocrisy make him a perhaps unexpected embodiment of the director’s own worldview. Stunningly shot amid the timeless landscapes of southern Italy and set to a soundtrack that encompasses everything from Bach to Black spirituals, The Gospel According to St. Matthew cuts past dogma and straight to the core of Jesus’ radical humanism.
