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Pressestimmen | reviews and articles
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»Jesus: Der Film« is silly, sublime by Peter Keough The greatest story ever told has inspired filmmakers from Pier Paolo Pasolini to Monty Python. Celluloid versions of the New Testament have ranged from bombastic epic to austere meditation to scurrilous parody. Now from Germany comes a film that combines every previous approach to Christ in the movies into one rickety, black-and-white, Super8 extravaganza. Thirty-five episodes in Christ's life, from the immaculate conception to his enthronement in heaven, are interpreted by 22 young German filmmakers in the self-proclaimed "monumental" »Jesus: Der Film.« Some viewers may be put off by such evidence of a limited budget as Roman soldiers equipped with cardboard swords and helmets topped with paintbrushes. Others may find certain discrepancies in 'Der Film' with the stories familiar to us from Sunday school. The Adoration of the Magi, for example, is granted an apocryphal twist when the Wise Men find not one but two Jesuses on the stable floor: the traditional infant and a fully grown Lord, played by Michael Brynntrup, the thin, beardless and bewildered coordinator of »Der Film«. "We had twins," explains Joseph from under his fake, cottony beard. "Take the smaller one and we'll keep the other." The Wise Men do so, taking the baby Jesus back to placate the jealous Herod, who is busy slaughtering the innocents. For the most part, though, 'Der Film's' deviations from the Bible are only mildly blasphemous and often quite funny. Jesus cures the blind man who, after seeing his healer's fancy robe, conks him over the head with his cane and makes off with it. Jesus's temptation in the wilderness is covertly overseen by suited evangelists in dark glasses communicating with walkie-talkies. Pushy promoters pick the Lord up at the airport, shove him into a cab and boorishly argue about the expected gate at his forthcoming performance of the Sermon on the Mount at a local soccer stadium. This semisacrilegeous satire might strain the patience of the more orthodox. But despite its flippancy, 'Der Film' is genuinely, if erractically, reverent. In the crucial scenes of Christ's condemnation, passion, death and resurrection, the ineffable pathos and grandeur of the subject shines through the film's marginal means. Perhaps because the filmmakers' sources are so limited they are able to capture these moments' sublimity. Deprived of props, effects, color and even synchronous sound, the makers of 'Der Film' are reduced to the fundamental materials of cinema: the human face, form and imagination. These are the same resources used by film in its infancy, and many of the techniques of silent movies, from the lingering closeup to broad slapstick, are employed in 'Der Film'. Most adventurous in this regard is Brynntrup, who directed about one-third of the episodes. He borrows deeply from the tradition of German Expressionist cinema, using bizarrely painted sets, macabre makeup and costumes, and bold uses of light and shadow. His stylistic versatility culminates in the film's finale, derived from the Apocalypse of St. John, where he achieves an aura of imminent revelation akin to the works of American avante-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger. Given the circumstances of its production, 'Der Film' is understandably flawed. It is at times sophomoric, pretentious and just plain silly. It also is occasionally incomprehensible, a problem aggravated by a lack of subtitles (a translation sheet will be provided). But it's cumulative effect is not unlike that of a religious experience. It may be condemned as iconoclastic, offensive and heretical, but then so was Jesus himself by the Pharisees of old. (Chicago Sun-Times, May 22, 1987 - Peter Keough) . 
monografischer Artikel | monographic review Eraserhead: "Monument im Kleinformat - Ein sicherer Kandidat für den Cecil B. DeMille-Preis", berlinale-tip Nr.1/86, Berlin, Februar 1986 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Wiglaf Droste: "Jesus klebt!", die tageszeitung, Berlin, 15.02.86 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Bernd Kegel: "Der Toaster und das Abendmahl", Bielefelder Stadtblatt, 10.07.86 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Alexandra Jacobsen: "Das Neue Testament als Super8-Monumentalfilm" Neue Westfälische Bielefeld, 11.07.86 Radio - Besprechung | radio - review Bärbel Jäschke: "Du sollst dir kein Bildnis noch irgendein Gleichnis machen" RIAS 1 'KIRCHENFUNK', Radio-Sendung vom 11.07.86 monografischer Artikel | monographic review tom: "Mysteriöses Mysterium", Nürnberger Zeitung, 31.07.86 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Wolfgang Luck: "Jesus lebt!", Communale Heidelberg, 13.11.86 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Andreas Wildfang, "Jesus pre Digitales", ARTS in Buffalo, vol 1 N°24, 15.12.88 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Gero von Goell: "Jesus - der Film", Babsies Diktatur, Ausgabe 13, Januar 2004 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Silvia Hallensleben, "Missionieren im Super-8-Format", die tageszeitung, 04.09.2014 Radio - Besprechung | radio - review Adolf Stock: "Jesus - der Film, Super-8-Film mit Kreuzigung als Splatter-Episode" Deutschlandradio Kultur 'Religionen', Radio-Sendung vom 21.12.2014 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Laila Oudray, "Jesus – Der Film | Restauriert und digitalisiert", screen/read - webzine für Film & Kino, 30.12.2014 monografischer Artikel | monographic review Martin Ostermann, "Totgesagte leben länger", FILM-DIENST, Nr.9/2015, Mai 2015 JESUS-BIBLIO | JESUS BIBLIO Bibliographie zu Pressestimmen - deutsch | reviews and articles - german Pressestimmen - englisch | reviews and articles - english
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