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By
DEBORAH NICOL
What does it take to inspire
religious faith in a busy city of concrete and
constant advertisement? When weekly sermons no
longer cut it, a priest hires a ragtag group of
actors to enliven the annual Passion play. He gets
more than he bargains for when they succeed in
promoting the Word of God, but not in a style the
priest feels suitable.
Denys Arcand ("The Barbarian Invasions") brings
together the overly casual secular world with the
rigid religious world and allows the usual battles
to ensue. The Montreal of the '80s has hit the
peak of consumerism and everyone seems to have
lost their personal voice. A city of yes men
follows blindly behind one another, with no one
willing to make bold statements. The actors
brought together to change all this have been
working merely to pay the bills, and have
forgotten about their own personal enthusiasm for
life.
The actor to portray Jesus (Lothaire Bluteau, "I
Shot Andy Warhol") seeks a religious Deep Throat,
who provides him with the historical truths behind
the great Christian myth. The priest is shocked by
the actors' presentation of these factoids, and
feels it shames the message. But the audience is
mesmerized all the same, and the play has quite an
impact on the city. So much so that it flows into
the actors' lives, and they prove never to be the
same afterwards.
Arcand appears to stress that faith can exist in a
world of knowledge, if only we take the time to
digest the two fully. This film is not overly
profound (despite being nominated and winning
numerous awards and sweeping Canada's Oscar
equivalent, the Genie), but does make a statement
on the power of thoughtful passion. No extras are
included on the DVD. |
