(the film will also be on reserve at the Geddes Language Lab from Friday, 3-17 to Friday, 3-24)
Of the films we have seen so far, this one will require the most effort on your part. The film is French Canadian with English subtitles, and though a dry humor runs through the film, you may miss it if you let the seriousness of the film overwhelm you. It *is* a very serious film, but many of its best messages are communicated with subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) humor. For Roger Ebert's Review inthe Chicago Sun Times (7/18/1990) click here. For the film's page on the Internet Movie Database, click here.
The film suggests that walking in the footsteps of Jesus, whether intentionally (as a spiritual path) or unintentionally (as in the case of a troupe of actors reinventing a stale passion play for a Montreal church) is a transformative experience. Though the parallels between the New Testament and the story as it unfolds in contemporary Montreal should be readily apparent, the strength of the film lies not in setting up the hero, Daniel Coulombe (Note: Coulombe means Dove, which, as you know, is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, mediating force, etc.), as a modern incarnation of Jesus, but in communicating the powerful relevance which the passion continues to hold. More than an exploration of the meaning of Jesus himself, the film explores the impact of Jesus as medium and as message on others.
We are viewing the film this week in the context of our exploration of heroism and martyrdom in Christian context. The passion (suffering, death, resurrection) of Jesus is the ideal upon which subsequent Christian martyrdom was/is based, and heroism and sainthood in Christian context are in turn based upon the model of martyrdom.
As you watch the film, pay attention to Arcand's incorporation of Gospel themes and his transformation of Gospel themes, pay attention to implications about the nature of the present-day Church and of secular society, and pay particular attention to the theme of transformation as explored in the film.