People often ask me what my favorite “Jesus Movie” is, and they almost never expect my answer. For me it’s hands down. A clear forerunner. A movie most people have never heard of, but in my opinion, the best of all time: “Jesus of Montreal.” This is not just my favorite Jesus movie of all time but one of my very favorite movies of any kind of all time.
Want to watch it and then have a discussion about it with me?
This will be our first ever Blog Movie Club event (BMC)!
The main event, the discussion with me, will be on Sunday, January 22, 4:00-5:30 pm EST.
The Movie Club viewing will not be that day, but before; and you have two (well three!) massively convenient options. You can:
- Watch it on your own at your leisure.
- Join other blog members in watching it simultaneously in silence, with a brief introduction and discussion afterward (without me) led by movie club organizer and blog member Lance Boyer, on January 14, 8:00 pm;
- Join other blog members in watching it simultaneously in anything but silence, making comments and giving insights and whatever, led by movie club organizer and blog member Lance Boyer, on January 15, 2:00 pm
As you might imagine, I do NOT recommend doing ONLY option 3; but if you’ve already done options 1 or 2, 3 could be fun. Lance’s descriptions of these options are below.
SO, the basic idea is that you watch the film at some point, by yourself or with others, and then we discuss it on January 22. Interested?
We are asking for a minimum donation of $30 to participate in the event. If you can’t afford it, or all of it, come anyway. If you’re feeling generous (beginning of the year giving!), the sky is the limit. For those who agree it’s one of the best movies they’ve never seen, we suggest multiples of $10 up to and including $30,000. Anything above that, please send small unmarked bills to my private address.
To register for the event, here is the link: Register here
For those who sign up, I will be providing a brief movie-viewing-guide in advance. (That can help for this film in particular. It’s not at all hard to understand on the surface, but there’s a lot more to it than you might expect at first glance.)
I hope you can do it. I’m looking forward to it.
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Here now are Lance’s descriptions of the joint viewing options (#2 and #3) , should you want to go that way (as opposed to watching the film on your own):
Saturday 14 January 2023 8:00pm EST Jesus of Montreal–Silent Movie Watching Only with discussion afterwards!
Lance will give a brief introduction of the film with a short history of Denys Arcand’s conception and execution. Then we’ll roll the film and watch it together in silence. Afterwards, we’ll have a half hour to discuss the movie.
Sunday 15 January 2023 2:00pm EST Jesus of Montreal–Loud Movie Watching with MST3K commentary, discussion, or observations welcome during the film!
Even if you watched it the day before, this promises to be a fun showing that is anything but silent. Anyone is welcome to make comments, stop the film for conversation, or even play MST3K (Mystery Science Theatre 3000) and attempt to tell jokes and get people laughing while we watch. Afterwards, we’ll have some conversation if anyone is left with something to say.
It’s been yearts since I’ve seen Jesus of Montreal but it’s one of my favorites too. I’m curious, is Pasolini’s Gospel According to St. Matthew also a favorite of yours?
Yup! But try getting 19 year olds interesetd in it. Whoa. Those extended silent shots!
That sounds like a really interesting film! As a writer and theatre educator/director, I’ve considered writing a play about Jesus from a more historical, apocalyptic perspective. Might be an interesting endeavor!
I wish *someone* would do a film based on what historical scholars have said for the past century!
I do have a BFA in screenwriting also. Maybe I’ll take a crack at it?
Well, now that you mention it…
As I’m sure Prof Ehrman is aware, back in the days of the Jesus Seminar it was reported that the director Paul Verhoeven (who was reportedly the only “non biblical scholar invited to join the JS”) was working on a film “based strictly on a critical/scholarly historical reconstruction of the life of Jesus”.
Nothing came of the film[*], but given the movies for which Verhoeven was famous (e.g. “Basic Instinct”, “Robocop”, “Starship Troopers”, “Show Girls”), the movie might have been, well, interesting.
In particular, I always felt that, alas, we were denied one of the great might-have-been moments in movie history.
Given that Verhoeven also directed “Total Recall”, how great would it have been to have seen Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Jesus, deliver that immortal line… “I’ll be back!”
[* Here’s a link to a book that Verhoeven wrote about the project:
https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Nazareth-Paul-Verhoeven/dp/1609803485 ]
For those who have access to it, I’ll mention that the Kanopy streaming service has “Jesus of Montreal”. (Specifically the French version with English subtitles.)
1] if you’re not familiar with it, Kanopy is a streaming service with a *huge* selection of movies and documentaries. However it is available only through libraries (local, university, etc).
Many local libraries provide access for their patrons as an “On-line Service” (this is how I watch it).
2] Also, to avoid possible confusion for those who might be new to Kanopy: You need to explicitly turn on the captioning/subtitles when you watch the movie; I.e. they don’t just default-ly appear.
(For example, on my screen the controls for the subtitles are enabled by clicking on an icon in the upper right corner of the screen. It looks kind of like a small, rectangular “thought balloon”.)
Hope folks find this of help.
WEBMASTER: The link to watching (item #3 : “anthing but silence” ) is broken. I can’t figure out how to “do the homework”. Or where to stream from. (And there is maybe something funky with the Register Here LINKS, too.)
Send a note to Help and somone will figure it out for you.
I also love this movie. It’s also one of my all-time favorites. I’ve seen it at least 6 or 7 times.
I have the DVD so can watch it whenever I want. A great choice!
Were you still a liberal Christian in 1989 when this movie came out?
Oh yes. But I didn’t see it then – it was only years later.
Option 1 is proving difficult. It is not available to watch on any Xfinity channels that we have (we have a lot), or streaming on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Disney +, HBOMax, Paramount + or Peacock. I suppose I could do the Google and look for a DVD…
We’ll need to look and explain where you can get it. But I believe it’s on Youtube? No?
Whadaya know? YouTube’s got it all right.
Zoom time error—the non-silent movie showing is 2:00pm EST Sunday. Above it’s listed as 8pm EST Sunday in the list of three options and 2pm EST Sunday towards the end of the post.
THE CORRECT TIME ON SUNDAY 15 JANUARY IS 2:00pm EST.
We intentionally chose 8pm EST Saturday and 2pm EST Sunday to hopefully find a time that’s at least a little more convenient for our international friends.
Looking forward to seeing you at the movies!
Clarification on finding a way to watch Jesus of Montreal:
1. When you register Bart will email you the YouTube link to the movie. I just tried it and it works. You can watch it at your leisure.
2. If you join one of/or both the zoom movie watching parties, the movie will be shown then. (Saturday 8pm EST we watch together in silence and discuss afterwards. Sunday 2pm EST talking, joking, asking questions during the movie, stopping the film to make a point, etc. will be permitted.)
3. As Nichael has effectively described above, you can watch it on Kanopy. This is a free service that links to your local or college library. Not available everywhere.
Happy viewing!
Lance
I love the movie “Jesus of Montreal”. I got the DVD and other movies of Denys Arcand. But, for me, the best movie about Jesus (or Jesus to be) is “Ordet” (The word) by Carl Theodor Dreyer. It is a masterpiece!
Johannes thinks he is Jesus and his family thinks he is crazy (sounds familiar, doesn’t it?)