The Life of Jesus
(La Vie de Jèsus)
Director in Person
Screening on Film
Screening on Film
Directed by Bruno Dumont .
With Sébastien Bailleul, Samuel Boidin, Geneviéve Cottreel.
France, 1997, 35mm, color, 96 min.
French with English subtitles.
With Sébastien Bailleul, Samuel Boidin, Geneviéve Cottreel.
France, 1997, 35mm, color, 96 min.
French with English subtitles.
A shocker at Cannes because of its unromanticized coverage of real sex, Bruno Dumont's provocatively-titled, Cinemascope film is about a group of misdirected friends in the Northern French countryside. It centers on epileptic, chronically unemployed Freddy, his intense couplings with sexy Marie, and his motorcycle rides with his bored, nothing-else-to-do pals. One day, an Arab boy appears in the town, and has eyes for Marie. Racism and revenge follow. Dumont used local, non-professional actors to create a naturalistic portrait of rural Flanders for one of the most critically praised French films of recent years.