Jesus of Montreal

1989 [FRENCH]

Action / Drama / Romance

3
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 87% · 17 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 87% · 5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.5/10 10 7844 7.8K

library transplantation montreal, canada church perfume passion play

Plot summary

A group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play in Montreal begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives as the production takes form against the growing opposition of the Catholic church.

Director

Denys Arcand Photo
Denys Arcand

Top cast

Ron Lea Photo
Ron Lea as Daniel's Doctor / Daniel
Véronique Le Flaguais Photo
Véronique Le Flaguais as TV Host
Françoise Robertson Photo
Françoise Robertson as Extra
Marie-Christine Barrault Photo
Marie-Christine Barrault as Dubbing actress
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
1.03 GB
1280*714
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles ro   us   hu  
25 fps
1 hr 55 min
Seeds 2
1.92 GB
1920*1072
French 2.0
NR
Subtitles ro   us   hu  
25 fps
1 hr 55 min
Seeds 4

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Bunuel1976 8 / 10

Jesus OF MONTREAL (Denys Arcand, 1989) ***1/2

I had been impressed by this on first viewing (despite its being in French only), watched on another Good Friday several years ago; a second look (and the benefit of English subtitles) only reinforces its inherent quality. This is an absorbing, original, savage, funny, and frequently stunning piece of work - although, in view of its subject matter, it does have the occasional heavy-going passage. In fact, Jesus OF MONTREAL was expected to emerge victorious at that year's Academy Awards as the Best Foreign Language Film: facing stiff competition from the likes of CAMILLE CLAUDEL (1988) and CINEMA PARADISO (1989), the honor was eventually bestowed on the latter - a nostalgia piece with child interest, it was an altogether safer bet (though I've yet to catch the film in its entirety myself!)...Despite their over-familiarity, the 'Passion Play' sequences are quite powerful - thanks also to excellent performances all around. Lothaire Bluteau is quietly impressive in the demanding central role (of an actor who eventually goes mad from playing Christ!); incidentally, he followed this with another spiritual film - BLACK ROBE (1991). Arcand seems to be one of the most interesting auteurs around, as the only other film of his that I've watched - THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS (2004; which did win him an Oscar) - is also superb (apart from being equally thought-provoking and controversial). Speaking of which, I find Jesus OF MONTREAL to be superior to that other notorious Christ-movie of the day - Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF Christ (1988)...
Reviewed by LeRoyMarko 7 / 10

Good but not excellent

I found the first half of this movie to be not very interesting and sometimes extremely slow. But the movie picks up in the second half. The story is then more inspiring and some remarks are causes for deep thoughts.There's a lot of irony in the second half. One of them brings Daniel (Jesus, played by Lothaire Bluteau) to Ste-Marthe hospital. No one will take care of him there and he has to be brought to the Montréal Jewish Hospital to get some care! Interesting to hear what Father Leclerc has to say about his life as a priest and how, if he quits his job, he will have nothing remaining.It seems every actors in Québec had a role in this one. Cameos inlude: Marc Messier (Les Boys), Roy Dupuis (Being at Home with Claude), Denis Bouchard (Les Matins infidèles), Jean-Louis Millette (Bouscotte) and more.Out of 100, I gave it 74.
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