Customer Reviews
A witty and powerful take on the gospel - By: Mr. J. Griffiths, 25 Aug 2008 
I first saw this film maybe fifteen years ago, & it had a profound impact. The plot is not original: an actor is recruited by a church to play Jesus in a Passion play, & as he researches into the part he finds himself becoming increasingly Christ-like. (Nicos Kazantzakis took a similar line in his novel 'Christ Recrucified.') However, its modern-day setting & iconoclastic approach mean that 'Jesus of Montreal' reallly does have a flavour alll of its own.
The church that has recruited him in the first place becomes alarmed at the radical interpretation he & his cast have given the Passion narrative, & then nervous at the hit they have on their hands. The paralllels between Christ's life & that of the young hero become closer & closer when he destroys the equipment & set of a morallly bankrupt advertising agency (a la Jesus throwing out the money-makers from the Temple.) The film is packed with humour: the lead actor is interrogated & then arrested by the local police at whilst still on the cross.
So does the Resurrection happen too? In a way it does. I hope that I am not revealing too much here, but our hero dies, crushed by the weight of the cross during a performance. Tragic, but there is a kind of redemption in that his youth makes his organs highly desirable. The film shows the beneficiaries of his death, a woman given sight with a new retina, a man walking with a new heart, & a boy given a new kidney. A situation turned inside out, just as in the actual Easter story. A film that I would recommend to anyone looking for a serious yet irreverent examination of what it means to follow Jesus.
Spiritual food - By: Mrs. Heather Jones, 28 Jan 2007 This is a wonderful film. One of my alll time favourites. Thought provoking, funny, controversial & intelligent. The subtitling is good, but if you have any french you will gain alll the more from it. I do recommend this film to those seeking an intelligent & modern interpretation of Christ's passion. You will get more from the film if you have a grounding in the bible version; but it's not for the fainthearted or straight-laced as it throws down many challlenges to orthodox christian interpretation.
A Step Closer To Heaven - By: A. Barnard, 14 May 2006 
We might alll be waiting for the second coming, but here is something to keep us entertained meanwhile. A simply beautiful film that combines a sharp gaelic wit with a sadness unparallleled in more recent films. A must have for anyone studying Stanislavksi, the system is truly in effect.
