Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) (1964)

93% of critics liked it
(27 reviews)
86% of users liked it
(3,913 ratings)

Relating his facts in straight-on documentary fashion, Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1964 Biblical film stars Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus. In it, Christ and his followers are depicted as gentle radicals working against the grain of the unjust Roman power structure. Typically offbeat Pasolini touches include… More Relating his facts in straight-on documentary fashion, Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1964 Biblical film stars Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus. In it, Christ and his followers are depicted as gentle radicals working against the grain of the unjust Roman power structure. Typically offbeat Pasolini touches include having Satan disguise himself as a Catholic priest and the casting of the director's own mother as the Virgin Mary. The music is selected from a variety of sources, from Bach to American spirituals. Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo was released in the U.S. as The Gospel According to St. Matthew -- much to the discomfort of Pasolini, who didn't want Matthew designated as a saint. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 2 hr. 15 min.
Directed By: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Written By: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Genres: Documentary, Drama, Art House & International

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1964 Wide
On DVD: Jul 22, 2003
Studio: Water Bearer Films Inc.

Critic Reviews

Don Druker, Chicago Reader
Pasolini uses a complex but seemingly stark and simple visual style, and he evokes wonderful performances from nonprofessionals Enrique Irazoqui, Margherita Caruso, and Marcello Morante.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
This highly political interpretation of the passion is as scandalous in its own way as Mel Gibson's but more poetic, more contemporary in its impact, and more serious in its overall morality.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
The consequence is a crescendo of excitement and involvement with the fervor and passion of Jesus and an accumulating sense of the irony and tragedy of Jesus' suffering, in historical as well as spiritual terms.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Tells the life of Christ as if a documentarian on a low budget had been following him from birth.
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
A defiantly earthy anti-epic, Pasolini's Gospel is a period piece in costume only, placing its rather scruffy, contemporary-looking Christ in the steep southern Italian hills of Calabria.
Tim Brayton, Antagony & Ecstasy
Beautifully retells a spiritual story without resorting to the overbearing piousness that makes most American Bible films such well-intentioned slogs.
David Parkinson, Empire Magazine
Seen as a Catholic-Marxist statement at the time, nearly 40 years on, Pasolini's cinematic accomplishment still impresses.
Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews
Pier Paolo Pasolini benefited from the very austerity that underlies the particular and at the same time universal center of this film.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
A quirky version of Matthew's story, one that was closer in accord with fundamentalist beliefs than Marxist tenets.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Certainly Pasolini's most satisfying movie.
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
It's Jesus Christ's greatest hits in this Pasolini classic, a scrappy and odd adaptation of, as the title suggests, the Book of Matthew.
Steven D. Greydanus, Decent Films Guide
Its most enduring achievement is an ironic one, given Pasolini's Marxism: No other life-of-Christ film is so contemplative.
Dan Jardine, Cinemania
Striking juxtaposition of the poetic and prosaic.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

the most beautiful gospel film i have seen...made by an openly gay communist and dedicated to the pope. amazing faces!
Pierluigi P

The controversial Pier Paolo Pasolini retells the life of Jesus Christ in a much more honest way than many of the "socially accepted" filmmakers who tried to do the same. Told in neorrealist key, without embellishment nor grandiloquence, and that's where the beauty and… More
The controversial Pier Paolo Pasolini retells the life of Jesus Christ in a much more honest way than many of the "socially accepted" filmmakers who tried to do the same. Told in neorrealist key, without embellishment nor grandiloquence, and that's where the beauty and the greatness of the film comes, from its natural feel and simplicity.
Michael S

Best film about Jesus- bar none.
Eric B

Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" begins as an intriguing tale about an intense preacher in ancient times, but the plot turns less plausible as the film continues and the character gains various magical powers. Too bad. Wonderful locations and hats,… More
Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" begins as an intriguing tale about an intense preacher in ancient times, but the plot turns less plausible as the film continues and the character gains various magical powers. Too bad. Wonderful locations and hats, though.
Alex F

The best version possible of a weak tale.

Cast

            Enrique Irazoqui as Jesus Christ

            Margherita Caruso as Mary as a girl

            Susanna Pasolini as Mary as a Woman

            Marcello Morante as Joseph

            Mario Socrate as John the Baptist

            Settimo di Porto as Peter

            Otello Sestili as Judas

            Ferruccio Nuzzo as Matthew

            Alfonso Gatto as Andrew

            Enzo Siciliano as Simon

            Giorgio Agamben as Philip

            Guido Cerretani as Bartholomew

            Luigi Barbini as James son of Alphaeus

            Marcello Galdini as James son of Zebedee

            Elio Spaziani as Thaddeus

            Rosario Migale as Thomas

            Rodolfo Wilcock as Caiaphas

            Alessandro Tasca as Pontius Pilate

            Amerigo Bevilacqua as Herod the Great

            Franca Cupane as Herodias

            Paola Tedesco as Salome

            Ninetto Davoli as A young shepherd

            Francesco Leonetti as Herod Antipas

            Giacomo Morante as John the Apostle

            Enrico Maria Salerno as Jesus Christ

            Renato Terra as A pharisee
See full cast

Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (The Gospel According to St. Matthew) (1964)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Stella D

Pierluigi P

Michael S

Eric B

Alex F

Cast

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