North Punch
10/29/1999
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This movie is genuinely disturbing.There is no manicheism : the beginning shows us that a racist boy can have feelings towards a boy who has got AIDS, how the boredom of poor areas can turn people into criminals ( cf the raping scene, the killing of an arabian ). It refuses the happy end : the arabian guy dies because of the jealousy of the boyfriend of the girl he flirted with. Lots of french critics have criticized the final redemption. But this end is reminiscent of the redemption of the bad lieutenant and Bresson's Pickpocket : how horrible and disgusting your sins might be, you may have god's pardon if you suffer enough to get it. This movie might not be friendly but it is as radical as Ferrara or Cronenberg and it obsesses the viewer a long time after he's seen it."
EXCELLENT!
B. Clark | 06/26/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This film is an awesome film. If anyone wants a good Christian film, pick this one up. The life of Jesus is just so unbelievable to humans today, but this particular video does a great betrayl of Christ. The video is just so great that you'll have to see it for yourself."
Praise Jesus!
B. Clark | Australia | 03/21/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I've been one of a select few of Bruno Dumont lovers after the delirious "Twentynine Palms" but "Life Of Jesus" is a more subdued, more restrained but no less disturbing piece of work.
This film never starts sermonising or getting didactic, instead it allows the audience to draw its own conclusions without the usual sensationalism you'd expect from a film that deals with bigotry and intolerance in a small provincial community."