{{Short description|1964 film about Jesus Christ, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini}} {{About||the American film of The Gospel|The Visual Bible: Matthew|the Chandran Rutnam directed romance, crime and thriller film|According to Mathew}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}} {{Infobox film | name = The Gospel According to Matthew | image = Pasolini Gospel Poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Original Italian release poster | native_name = {{Infobox name module|it|'''Il Vangelo secondo Matteo'''}} | director = [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]] | producer = [[Alfredo Bini]] | based_on = [[Gospel of Matthew]] | screenplay = Pier Paolo Pasolini | starring = {{ubl| * [[Enrique Irazoqui]] * Margherita Caruso * Susanna Pasolini * Marcello Morante * Mario Socrate * Settimio Di Porto }} | music = [[Luis Bacalov|Luis Enríquez Bacalov]] | cinematography = [[Tonino Delli Colli]] | editing = [[Nino Baragli]] | studio = Arco Film<br />Lux Compagnie Cinématographique | distributor = [[Titanus Distribuzione]] (Italy)<br>Lux Compagnie Cinématographique (France) | released = {{Film date|df=y|1964|09|04|[[25th Venice International Film Festival|Venice]]|1964|10|02|Italy|1965|3|3|France}} | runtime = 137 minutes<!--Theatrical runtime: 1366:59--><ref>{{cite web|title=''THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW'' (U)|url=http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/gospel-according-st-matthew-1970|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130420010627/http://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/gospel-according-st-matthew-1970|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 April 2013|work=[[British Board of Film Classification]]|date=4 November 1964|access-date=30 December 2012}}</ref> | country = Italy<br>France<ref name=lumiere>{{cite web|url=https://lumiere.obs.coe.int/movie/2274# |title=Lumiere }}</ref> | language = Italian }} '''''The Gospel According to St. Matthew''''' ({{langx|it|'''Il Vangelo secondo Matteo'''}}) is a 1964 [[epic film|epic]] [[List of films based on the Bible|biblical drama]] film, written and directed by [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]]. It is a cinematic rendition of the story of [[Jesus]] according to the [[Gospel of Matthew]], from the [[Nativity of Jesus|Nativity]] through the [[Resurrection of Jesus|Resurrection]].
In the [[Italian neorealism|neorealist]] tradition, the film employed a cast of mostly amateur actors, and was filmed entirely on-location throughout [[Southern Italy]]. The dialogue is taken directly from the Gospel of Matthew, as Pasolini felt that "images could never reach the poetic heights of the text."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://uashome.alaska.edu/~jndfg20/website/stmatthew.htm |title=Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema |access-date=2016-02-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20040822074947/http://uashome.alaska.edu/~jndfg20/website/stmatthew.htm |archive-date=22 August 2004}}</ref> He reportedly chose Matthew's Gospel over the others because he felt "[[Gospel of John|John]] was too mystical, [[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] too vulgar, and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] too sentimental."<ref>[https://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/students/index.cfm?P=5563] {{dead link|date=January 2015}}</ref>
''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' premiered on 4 September 1964 at the [[25th Venice International Film Festival]], where it won the [[Grand Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival)|Grand Jury Prize]] and three [[Nastro d'Argento|Nastro d'Argento Awards]], including [[Nastro d'Argento for Best Director|Best Director]]. It was nominated for three [[Academy Awards|Oscars]]—[[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]], [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]] and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Score]]. In 2015, the [[Vatican City-State|Vatican City]] newspaper ''[[L'Osservatore Romano]]'' called it the best film on Christ ever made.<ref name=":2">{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=In Francis' Church Pasolini goes to heaven|url=http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/fede-faith-fe-cinema-cinema-cinema-35391/|newspaper=Vatican Insider – La Stampa/|location=Rome|date=2014-07-22|access-date=2015-10-09|archive-date=24 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724023413/http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/inquiries-and-interviews/detail/articolo/fede-faith-fe-cinema-cinema-cinema-35391/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The film is considered a classic of world cinema and the neorealist genre.<ref name=":0"/>
==Plot== ''Note: The film lacks a conventional narrator, and assumes (or at least benefits from) familiarity with the story of Christ.''<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Mirus |first=Thomas V. |date=2016-03-22 |title=Holy Week viewing: Pasolini's Gospel According to St. Matthew |url=https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/holy-week-viewing-pasolinis-gospel-according-to-st-matthew/ |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=www.catholicculture.org}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Aichele |first=George |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Simulating_Jesus/WDpyBgAAQBAJ |title=Simulating Jesus: Reality Effects in the Gospels |date=2015-01-30 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-54531-6 |pages=63-64 |language=en}}</ref>
In [[Roman Empire|Roman]] [[Galilee]], the local Jewish community lives in poverty. Although the Romans are formally in charge, the Jewish upper class—including King [[Herod the Great|Herod]] and the [[Pharisees|Pharisee]] religious elite—dominates the locals on a day-to-day basis.
The pregnant [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] has a troubled relationship with [[Joseph, father of Jesus|Joseph]], who worries she cheated on him. Joseph reconciles with Mary after an angel tells him that [[Virgin birth of Jesus|God caused Mary's pregnancy]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|1:18–1:25}}}} After Mary bears Jesus [[Christ]], the [[Biblical Magi|magi]] [[Nativity of Jesus|visit the baby Jesus]]. The angel tells the family to [[Flight into Egypt|flee to Egypt]]. Herod—who fears a prophecy that Jesus will become [[Jesus, King of the Jews|king of the Jews]]—brutally [[Massacre of the Innocents|massacres the region's infants]]. The family return to Judea after Herod dies.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|2:1–1:23}}}}
Many years later, [[John the Baptist]] preaches a brazenly anti-establishment message to the commoners of Galilee.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|3:1–3:12}}}} Jesus [[Baptism of Jesus|visits John to be baptized]], and God appears to them.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|3:13–3:17}}}} [[Temptation of Christ|Satan offers Jesus wealth and power]], but Jesus declines.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|4:1–4:11}}}}
Jesus recruits a [[Apostles in the New Testament|band of disciples]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|4:18–4:22, 9:9, 10:1-10:4|multi=yes}}}} He warns them that [[Matthew 10:34|"I came not to bring peace, but a sword"]] and that they will suffer on his behalf.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|10:16–10:39}}}} He travels around the country with his disciples, healing the blind, raising the dead, exorcising demons, and proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God and the promised salvation.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|4:23–4:25}}}} The film rapidly canvasses his [[Parables of Jesus|parables]] and sayings, including the [[Sermon on the Mount]], in a series of [[Montage (filmmaking)|montaged]] [[Monologue|monologues]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|5, 6, 7|multi=yes}}}} Meanwhile, the [[Herod Antipas|new king]] imprisons John the Baptist before [[Beheading of John the Baptist|capriciously executing him]] to impress [[Salome|his stepdaughter]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|4:12, 14:1-14:12|multi=yes}}}}
Jesus is generally uncomfortable showing his divine power in public (with the exception of the [[miracle of the loaves and fishes]]).{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|8:1–8:4, 12:15-12:21, 14:13-14:33, 16:20, 21:18-21:22|multi=yes}}}} He prefers to preach radical messages to working-class crowds and children.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|9:35–9:38, 11:25-11:30, 18:1-18:5, 18:10-18:14, 23:1-23:39|multi=yes}}}} The wealthy are alienated by Jesus's socially conscious teachings, the religious elite are threatened by his contempt for their [[Legalism (theology)|legalism]] and hypocrisy, and even commoners are concerned with his asceticism.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|8:18–8:22, 12:1-12:14, 12:22-12:50, 18:6-18:9, 18:21-18:22, 19:16-19:24, 21:12-21:13, 21:23-21:46, 22:15-22:40|multi=yes}}}} [[Matthew the Apostle|Matthew]] is wounded when Jesus chooses [[Saint Peter|Peter]] over him to lead the church, but accepts Jesus's decision.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:13–16:20}}}}
Although the public—which wants to see the supernatural—[[Matthew 13#Verses 53–58|initially ignores Jesus]],{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|11:1–11:24, 14:53-14:58|multi=yes}}}} he attracts a large following and [[Triumphal entry into Jerusalem|triumphantly enters Jerusalem]] to cheering crowds.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|21:1–21:11}}}} The Roman army is called in for crowd control and beats several followers of Jesus.
After Jesus claims to be the Jews's prophesied [[Messiah]], the chief priests plot to murder him.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|26:1–26:5}}}} [[Judas Iscariot]] betrays Jesus after Jesus [[Anointing of Jesus|scolds him in front of the other disciples]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|26:6–26:16}}}} During the [[Agony in the Garden]], Jesus accepts his fate, which he has long known.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|16:21–16:28, 26:36-26:46|multi=yes}}}} The chief priests organize a mob to [[Arrest of Jesus|arrest Jesus]]. The apostles rise to defend him, but Jesus insists on [[Live by the sword, die by the sword|surrendering peacefully]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|26:47–26:56}}}} The chief priests [[Sanhedrin trial of Jesus|hand Jesus over to the Romans]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|26:57–26:68}}}} Fearing a similar fate, Peter [[Denial of Peter|denies Jesus three times]]. After escaping, he breaks down crying.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|26:31–26:35, 26:69-26:75|multi=yes}}}} Judas [[Death of Judas|commits suicide]] after realizing even the priests are disgusted by his treachery.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:1–27:10}}}}
The Roman [[Pontius Pilate|governor]], [[Pontius Pilate|Pilate]], declares Jesus innocent but [[Crucifixion of Jesus|executes him anyway]] to placate the chief priests.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:11–27:53}}}} Mary buries her son.{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|27:57–27:61}}}} After three days, Jesus [[Resurrection of Jesus|rises]] from the dead and instructs his disciples to [[Great Commission|spread the gospel throughout the world]].{{efn|{{Bibleverse|Matthew|28}}}}
==Cast== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * [[Enrique Irazoqui]] as [[Jesus]] * Margherita Caruso as [[Mary, mother of Jesus]] ** Susanna Pasolini as older Mary * Marcello Morante as [[Saint Joseph|Joseph]] * Mario Socrate as [[John the Baptist]] * Settimio Di Porto as [[Saint Peter|Peter]] * [[Alfonso Gatto]] as [[Andrew the Apostle|Andrew]] * Luigi Barbini as [[James the Great|James]] * Giacomo Morante as [[John the Apostle|John]] * [[Giorgio Agamben]] as [[Philip the Apostle|Philip]] * Guido Cerretani as [[Bartholomew the Apostle|Bartholomew]] * Rosario Migale as [[Thomas the Apostle|Thomas]] * Ferruccio Nuzzo as [[Matthew the Apostle|Matthew]] * Marcello Galdini as [[James, son of Alphaeus]] * Elio Spaziani as [[Jude the Apostle|Jude]] * [[Enzo Siciliano]] as [[Simon the Zealot|Simon]] * Otello Sestili as [[Judas Iscariot]] * [[J. Rodolfo Wilcock|Rodolfo Wilcock]] as [[Caiaphas]] * Alessandro Tasca as [[Pontius Pilate]] * Amerigo Bevilacqua as [[Herod the Great]] * Francesco Leonetti as [[Herod Antipas]] * Franca Cupane as [[Herodias]] * [[Paola Tedesco]] as [[Salome]] * Rossana Di Rocco as [[Angel of the Lord]] * [[Renato Terra]] as [[Legion (demons)|Legion]] * Eliseo Boschi as [[Joseph of Arimathea]] * [[Natalia Ginzburg]] as [[Mary of Bethany]] * Silvio Citti as [[Stephaton]] * [[Ninetto Davoli]] as a shepherd {{div col end}}
==Production==
===Background=== According to Barth David Schwartz's book ''Pasolini Requiem'' (1992), the impetus for the film took place in 1962. Pasolini had accepted [[Pope John XXIII]]'s invitation for a new dialogue with non-Catholic artists, and subsequently visited the town of [[Assisi]] to attend a seminar at a [[Franciscan]] monastery there. The papal visit caused traffic jams in the town, leaving Pasolini confined to his hotel room; there, he came across a copy of the [[New Testament]]. Pasolini read all [[Canonical Gospels|four Gospels]] straight through, and he claimed that adapting a film from one of them "threw in the shade all the other ideas for work I had in my head."<ref name="Ebert">{{cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20040314%2FREVIEWS08%2F403140301%2F1023|title=The Gospel According to St. Matthew|author=Roger Ebert|date=14 March 2004|publisher=Rogerebert.suntimes.com|access-date=3 January 2015|archive-date=20 September 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120920023724/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20040314%2FREVIEWS08%2F403140301%2F1023|url-status=dead}}</ref> He said that he decided to "remake the Gospel by analogy".<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 746">Wakeman. pp. 746.</ref>
Pasolini had the idea to not reproduce exactly a historic, casual Christ, but rather projecting the present-day society of southern Italy onto that figure, a Christ after 2,000 years of narrative build-up. As he explained,
<blockquote>Along with this method of reconstruction by analogy, we find the idea of myth and epics [...] so when narrating the history of Christ, I did not reconstruct Christ such as he actually was. If I had reconstructed Christ's history as it actually was, I would not have made a religious film, since I am not a believer. I do not think Christ was God's son. I would have made a positivist or Marxist reconstruction if any, so at the best of cases, a life of one of the five or six thousands saints preaching at that moment in Palestine. However, I did not want to do that, I am not interested in profanations: that is just a fashion I loathe, it is petit bourgeois. I want to consecrate things again, because that is possible, I want to re-mythologize them. I did not want to reconstruct the life of Christ as it really was, I wanted to make the history of Christ plus two thousand years of Christian storytelling about the life of Christ, since it is the two thousands years of Christian history that have mythologized this biography, one that as such would have been virtually insignificant otherwise. My film is the life of Christ after two thousands years of stories on the life of Christ. That is what I had in mind.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martellini|first=Luigi|date=2006|title=Pier Paolo Pasolini; Retrato de un intelectual|location=Valencia|publisher=Universitat de Valencia|pages=117–118|isbn=978-84-370-7928-8}}</ref></blockquote>
The film was dedicated to John XXIII.<ref>{{cite news |last=Thomson |first=Ian |date=2013-02-23 |title=Pier Paolo Pasolini: No saint |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/feb/22/pier-paolo-pasolini |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=2015-10-09}}</ref> The announcement at the opening credits reads that it is ''"dedicato alla cara, lieta, familiare memoria di Giovanni XXIII"'' (''"dedicated to the dear, joyous, familiar memory of Pope John XXIII"''). Pasolini was particularly critical with the new [[Pope Paul VI]] (1963), at a moment when he was drafting a storyboard for a follow-up to the film, this time on [[Paul the Apostle]]. The project due for 1966–1967 never took off, but it was advanced.<ref>On the new draft film, he went as follows: "The film is an extremely violent action against the Church and the Vatican, since I put together a double-sided Paul, i.e. schizophrenic, clearly dislocated into two: one is a saint [...] while the other is a priest, an ex-Pharisaic, one that retrieves his former cultural status and founds the Church. Hence my condemnation; as a mystic he is fine, it is a mystical experience like any other, respectable, I am not judging that, but I do condemn him firmly as the founder of the Church, with all the negative elements inherent to it: sexophobia, anti-Feminism, the organization, the collects, triumphalism, moralism. To sum up, all the things that have made the Church a bad thing." See Martellini, L. 2006, p. 119.</ref>
The film was co-produced by Arco Films and French company Lux Compagnie Cinématographique.<ref name="lumiere" />
=== Motives and blasphemy prosecution === During the pre-production process, Pasolini attracted controversy when the figure of Christ appeared in his [[short film]] ''[[La ricotta]]'', part of the omnibus film ''[[RoGoPaG]]''. Pasolini was prosecuted and convicted of attacking the state religion (Catholicism was the [[Lateran Treaty#After 1946|sole state religion of Italy until 1984]]).<ref>Wakeman. John. ''World Film Directors, Volume 2.'' The H. W. Wilson Company. 1988. pp. 746.</ref> He received a suspended prison sentence. Nonetheless, he continued making the Matthew film. Pasolini was well-known for being an [[atheist]], a [[homosexual]], and a [[Marxist]]. It has been speculated that the real motive for his prosecution may have been to preemptively discredit him in front of Catholic audiences, in case ''The Gospel'' proved to be iconoclastic. Due to the controversy, Pasolini strengthened the disclaimer at the start of ''La ricotta'', saying that he believed the Passion of Christ was "the greatest [story] that ever took place."<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Power |first=Nina |last2=Nowell-Smith |first2=Geoffrey |date=2017-03-30 |title=Subversive Pasolini: La Ricotta and The Gospel According to Matthew |url=https://www.versobooks.com/blogs/news/3150-subversive-pasolini-la-ricotta-and-the-gospel-according-to-matthew-a-conversation-between-nina-power-and-geoffrey-nowell-smith |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=Verso |language=en}}</ref>
At a press conference in 1966, Pasolini was asked why he, an unbeliever, had made a film which dealt with religious themes. He responded that "If you know that I am an unbeliever, then you know me better than I do myself. I may be an unbeliever, but I am an unbeliever who has a nostalgia for a belief."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cinemaseekers.com/Pasolinitext.html|title=Pasolini|publisher=Cinemaseekers.com|access-date=3 January 2015|archive-date=19 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090524/http://www.cinemaseekers.com/Pasolinitext.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Therefore, he sets his criticism against a backdrop of sheer religious concern for the role assumed by the Church, the organization, for centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last=Martellini|first=Luigi|date=2006|title=Pier Paolo Pasolini; Retrato de un intelectual|location=Valencia|publisher=Universitat de Valencia|pages=119–120|isbn=978-84-370-7928-8}}</ref>
===Casting=== In [[Italian neorealism|Italian neorealist]] style, most of the actors Pasolini hired were non-professionals. [[Enrique Irazoqui]] ([[Jesus]]) was a 19-year-old economics student from [[Francoist Spain|Spain]] and a communist activist who met Pasolini through [[Elsa Morante]]. Irazoqui initially did not want to play the role for ideological reasons, but was convinced by Morante and a local leftist writer named {{ill|Giorgio Manacorda|it}}, who told him to play a "[[Antonio Gramsci|Gramscian]]" Christ.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2020-09-16 |title=È morto Enrique Irazoqui, è stato Gesù nel 'Vangelo secondo Matteo' di Pasolini |url=https://www.repubblica.it/spettacoli/cinema/2020/09/16/news/e_morto_enrique_irazoqui_gesu_nel_vangelo_secondo_matteo_di_pasolini-267515900/ |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=la Repubblica |language=it}}</ref> Irazoqui donated his entire acting salary to [[Anti-Francoism|anti-Franco]] causes, and was targeted by the [[Francoist Spain|Falangist government]] upon his return to Spain for his participation in the film.<ref name=":1" />
For the young Mary, Pasolini hired 14-year-old Margherita Caruso. He was looking for a woman who looked "naturally 'of the people'/commoner as they say; like thousands you see, with their faded clothes ... destined to be nothing but living humility."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Di Blasio |first=Tiziana M. |date=2024-07-06 |title=How to portray the mother of Jesus |url=https://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/2024-07/dcm-007/how-to-portray-the-mother-of-jesus.html |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=L'Osservatore Romano |language=en}}</ref> For the elderly Mary, Pasolini cast his own mother, Susanna, who had herself lost a son (Pasolini's brother, a [[Brigate Osoppo|resistance fighter]] during World War II).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Satta |first=Gloria |date=2024-05-06 |title=Cinema and the sacred; the female effect |url=https://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/2024-07/dcm-007/cinema-and-the-sacred-the-female-effect.html |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=L'Osservatore Romano |language=en}}</ref>
The rest of the cast were mainly locals from [[Barile]], [[Matera]], and [[Massafra]], where the film was shot.<ref name=":5">{{cite web|url=http://imdb.com/title/tt0059741/|title=Sopralluoghi in Palestina per il vangelo secondo Matteo (1965)|author=lchadbou-326-26592|date=11 July 1965|publisher=IMDb|access-date=3 January 2015}}</ref> The cast also included noted intellectuals such as writers [[Enzo Siciliano]], [[Alfonso Gatto]], and [[Natalia Ginzburg]], poet [[J. Rodolfo Wilcock|Rodolfo Wilcock]], and philosopher [[Giorgio Agamben]].
Much of the dialogue was overdubbed by professional voice actors in [[post-production]]. For example, Irazoqui was dubbed by stage and screen actor [[Enrico Maria Salerno]].
=== Filming === Pasolini intentionally shot the film in Italy. He visited the Holy Land but found the locations unsuitable and "commercialized."<ref name=":5" /> In addition, he commented that Israel's landscape was simply too modern and industrialized to stand in for the time of Christ.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Valente |first=Peter |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Essays_on_the_Peripheries/DgaVEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=gospel+st+matthew+pasolini&pg=PA285&printsec=frontcover |title=Essays on the Peripheries |date=2021-04-22 |publisher=punctum books |isbn=978-1-953035-49-3 |pages=285-86 |language=en}}</ref> Pasolini's location scouting in the Holy Land is documented in the adjoining feature-length documentary ''[[Location Hunting in Palestine]]'', released a year later. For Mary and Joseph's working-class home, Pasolini used the real-life cave dwellings of the [[Sassi di Matera]].<ref name=":2" />
Pasolini described his experience filming ''The Gospel According to Matthew'' as very different from his previous films. He stated that while his shooting style on his previous film ''[[Accattone]]'' was "reverential," when his shooting style was applied to a biblical source it "came out rhetorical. ... And then when I was shooting the baptism scene near Viterbo I threw over all my technical preconceptions. I started using the zoom, I used new camera movements, new frames which were not reverential, but almost documentary [combining] an almost classical severity with the moments that are almost [[Jean-Luc Godard|Godardian]], for example in the two trials of Christ shot like '[[cinema verite]].' ... The Point is that ... I, a non-believer, was telling the story through the eyes of a believer. The mixture at the narrative level produced the mixture stylistically."<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 746" />
== Style ==
=== Relationship with the source material === Unlike previous cinematic depictions of Jesus' life, Pasolini's film does not embellish the [[the life of Jesus in the New Testament|biblical account]] with any literary or dramatic inventions, nor does it present [[Gospel harmony|an amalgam]] of the four Gospels (subsequent films which would adhere as closely as possible to one Gospel account are 1979's ''[[Jesus (1979 film)|Jesus]]'', based on the Gospel of Luke, and 2003's ''[[The Gospel of John (film)|The Gospel of John]]'').<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 746" />
Every word of dialogue in the film is drawn from the Gospel of Matthew.<ref>{{Cite web |last=King |first=Heather |date=2016-03-11 |title='The Gospel According to St. Matthew': A film by Pier Paolo Pasolini |url=https://angelusnews.com/voices/the-gospel-according-to-st-matthew-a-film-by-pier-paolo-pasolini/ |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=[[Angelus (magazine)]] |language=en-US}}</ref> However, not every scene or inference is drawn from Matthew. For example, Matthew does not say which disciple Jesus told off during the [[Anointing of Jesus|Anointing]]; only John says that it was Judas ([[John 12]]). From John's detail, Pasolini draws the inference that "Jesus's manipulation of his disciples' feelings for him directly spurs Judas's betrayal."<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=McGill |first=Hannah |date=2024-03-26 |title=The Gospel According to Matthew |url=https://bfidatadigipres.github.io/big%20screen%20classics/2024/03/26/gospel-according-to-matthew/ |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=BFI Southbank Programme Notes |language=en}}</ref> The detail that Mary was present at the Crucifixion is also drawn from John, not Matthew ([[John 19]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mazur |first=Eric Michael |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Religion_and_Film/_JHDEAAAQBAJ |title=Encyclopedia of Religion and Film |date=2011-03-08 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0-313-01398-0 |pages=348 |language=en}}</ref> Pasolini also focuses on scenes to which Matthew gives comparatively limited attention, such as the [[Massacre of the Innocents|massacre of the innocents]].<ref name=":4" />
Although the film's dialogue is drawn directly from the Gospel, it is not a word-for-word recreation of the text, and Pasolini took several artistic liberties. The film deletes 592 of Matthew's 1070 verses, and rearranges scenes from the narrative at least seventeen times. In particular, Pasolini omits Matthew's [[genealogy of Jesus]], the [[eschatological]] material in [[Matthew 24|chapters 24]] and [[Matthew 25|25]], "sixteen of Jesus' nineteen parables, and fifteen of his eighteen miracles." Christopher Fuller writes that "[t]he result is that ''The Gospel'' strips Jesus of his otherworldly status and situates him as an inhabitant of the present material world rather than the divine realm."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kupfer |first=Marcia Ann |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Passion_Story/WT96U9zmlTUC |title=The Passion Story: From Visual Representation to Social Drama |date=2008 |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=978-0-271-03307-5 |pages=181 |language=en}}</ref> George Aichele adds that "any careful reader will see important differences between Matthew's and Pasolini's Jesuses. ... [A]lthough the movie's Jesus is undoubtedly a prophet, he has little interest in the end of the world. Like any revolutionary, he would rather change it."<ref name=":4" />
=== Anachronisms and lack of ornamentation === Pasolini employed many of the techniques of [[Italian neorealism]] in the making of his film. The [[British Film Institute]] commented that the neorealist approach gave the film a "lack of awed formality and soft-focus sentiment that sets it apart from Hollywood Bible studies."<ref name=":6" /> Due to the film's minimalist style and lack of narration, it has been said that "one must either already know the story or have a sharp eye for visual storytelling to fully understand everything that is going on."<ref name=":3" />
The film is not purely naturalistic; many of its key stylistic decisions were anachronistic and unconventional.<ref name=":6" /> In addition to the original biblical source, Pasolini used references to "2,000 years of Christian painting and sculptures" throughout the film. The look of the characters is also eclectic and, in some cases, anachronistic, resembling artistic depictions of different eras (the costumes of the [[Roman soldier]]s and the [[Pharisees]], for example, are influenced by [[Renaissance art]], whereas Jesus' appearance has been likened to that in [[Byzantine art]] as well as the work of [[Expressionist]] artist [[Georges Rouault]]).<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 746" /> Pasolini's use of historical anachronisms would carry over to some his following films like [[Oedipus Rex (1967 film)|''Oedipus Rex'']]. As the [[British Film Institute]] later put it, the point of Pasolini's culturally omnivorous and anachronistic style "was that our knowledge of Christ's life comes down to us through 2000 years of art, and it is pointless to try and pretend otherwise."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrew |first=Geoff |date=2013-02-27 |title=Filming the divine: The Gospel According to Matthew |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/filming-divine-gospel-according-matthew |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref>
The score of the film, arranged by [[Luis Bacalov|Luis Enríquez Bacalov]], is [[Eclecticism in music|eclectic]]; ranging from [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] (e.g. ''[[Mass in B Minor]]'' and ''[[St Matthew Passion]]'') to [[Odetta]] ("[[Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child]]"), to [[Blind Willie Johnson]] ("[[Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground]]"), to the Jewish ceremonial declaration "[[Kol Nidre]]" and the "[[Gloria in Excelsis Deo|Gloria]]" from the Congolese ''[[Missa Luba]].'' Pasolini stated that all of the film's music was of a sacred or religious nature from all parts of the world and multiple cultures or belief systems.<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 746" /> Bacalov also composed several original musical tracks.
==Reception== [[File: Aldo Moro, Pier Paolo Pasolini - Venezia 1964.jpg|thumb|Italian Prime Minister [[Aldo Moro]] and [[Pier Paolo Pasolini]] together in [[Venice film festival|Venice]] at the premiere of the movie in 1964.]] The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, including several Christian critics. [[Philip French]] called it "a noble film," and [[Alexander Walker (critic)|Alexander Walker]] said that "it grips the historical and psychological imagination like no other religious film I have seen. And for all its apparent simplicity, it is visually rich and contains strange, disturbing hints and undertones about Christ and his mission."<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 747">Wakeman. pp. 747.</ref>
Some left-wing film critics, however, wrote unfavorable reviews. Oswald Stack criticized the film's "abject concessions to [[reactionary]] ideology." In response to criticism from the left, Pasolini admitted that, in his opinion, "there are some horrible moments I am ashamed of. ... The Miracle of [[Miracle of the loaves and fishes#The Feeding of the 5.2C000|the loaves and the fishes]] and [[Jesus walking on water|Christ walking on water]] are disgusting pietism." He also stated that the film was "a reaction against the conformity of Marxism. The mystery of life and death and of suffering – and particularly of religion ... is something that Marxists do not want to consider. But these are and have always been questions of great importance for human beings."<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 747"/> [[Jean-Paul Sartre]] reportedly told Pasolini that "[[Ivan the Terrible (1945 film)|Stalin rehabilitated Ivan the Terrible]]; Christ is not yet rehabilitated by Marxists."<ref name=":7" />
Noted admirers of the film include directors [[Andrei Tarkovsky]], who called it "genius",<ref>{{cite web |author1=Aleksandr Lipkov |author2=Robert Bird |date=February 1, 1967 |title=The Passion According to Andrei: An Unpublished Interview with Andrei Tarkovsky |url=http://www.nostalghia.com/TheTopics/PassionacctoAndrei.html |access-date=22 March 2024 |website=nostalghia.com |publisher=Literaturnoe obozrenie 1988, University of Chicago |pages=74–80 |quote=Interviewer: "What do you think about Pasolini's Gospel according to Matthew? That's also a kind of historical film." Tarkovsky: "Of course. I like the picture. I like it precisely because its director did not succumb to the temptation of interpreting the Bible. The Bible has been interpreted for two thousand years and no one can reach unanimous agreement. So Pasolini did not set himself this task, he just left the thing in the form in which it was born. Many feel that the image of a militant cruel Christ was made up by the author of the film. Not true! Read the Gospels and you will see that this was a cruel, cantankerous, irreconcilable man. Moreover with what genius was it written! On the one hand he's God and the Church has been relying on him for two thousand years, but he succumbs to doubt in the garden of Gethsemane. What could be simpler than to call for help from his father and avoid dying on the cross, but he doesn't do this. He is all back-to-front..."}}</ref> and [[Martin Scorsese]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nordine |first=Michael |date=2017-01-05 |title=Martin Scorsese Reveals Why He Never Made His Movie About Jesus in New York |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/martin-scorsese-jesus-in-new-york-1201765063/ |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref> who instructed the cast and crew of his own Biblical film [[The Last Temptation of Christ (film)|''The Last Temptation of Christ'']] to view it.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGzhHVFpcAM |title=The Hollywood Masters: Willem Dafoe on The Last Temptation of Christ |date=2018-02-26 |last=LMU School of Film and Television |access-date=2025-10-07 |via=YouTube}}</ref>
''The Gospel According to Matthew'' was ranked number 10 (in 2010) and number 7 (in 2011) in the ''Arts and Faith'' website's Top 100 Films,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://artsandfaith.com/t100/thegospelaccordingtomatthew.html|title=Arts & Faith Top 100: The Gospel According to Matthew|publisher=Arts & Faith|access-date=3 January 2015|archive-date=22 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150122212428/http://artsandfaith.com/t100/thegospelaccordingtomatthew.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> also is in the [[Vatican's list of films|Vatican's list of 45 great films]] and [[Roger Ebert]]'s Great Movies list.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.usccb.org/movies/vaticanfilms.shtml|title=USCCB – (Film and Broadcasting) – Vatican Best Films List|publisher=[[United States Conference of Catholic Bishops]]|access-date=3 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422064928/http://old.usccb.org/movies/vaticanfilms.shtml|archive-date=22 April 2012}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{cite web |author=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=14 March 2004 |title=The Gospel According to St. Matthew Movie Review (1964) |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-gospel-according-to-st-matthew-1964 |access-date=3 January 2015 |website=Chicago Sun-Times |publisher= |via=[[Roger Ebert|RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref> Forty years later, Ebert remarked that ''The Gospel According to Matthew'' and ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' were the only two religious films he had ever seen "that really seem[] to deal with what actually happened" with Jesus's death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ebert and Roeper give Gibson film ‘two thumbs way up’ |url=https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/ebert-and-roeper-give-gibson-film-two-thumbs-way-up |access-date=2026-04-13 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}</ref>
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 92%, based on 36 reviews, and an average rating of 8.6 out of 10, with the critics consensus saying "''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' forgoes the pageantry of biblical epics in favor of a naturalistic retelling of the Christ story, achieving a respectful if not reverent interpretation with political verve."<ref name=":0">{{rotten-tomatoes|gospel_according_to_st_matthew|The Gospel According to St. Matthew}}</ref>
=== Awards and nominations === At the [[25th Venice International Film Festival]], ''The Gospel According to Matthew'' was screened in competition for the Golden Lion, and won the OCIC Award and the Silver Lion. At the film's premiere, a crowd gathered to boo Pasolini but cheered him after the film was over. The film later won the Grand Prize at the International Catholic Film Office.<ref name="Wakeman. pp. 747"/>
The film was nominated for the UN Award at the [[21st British Academy Film Awards]].<ref>{{cite web |title=BAFTA Awards: Film in 1968 |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1968/film |publisher=British Academy of Film and Television Arts |access-date=2016-01-26 |quote=for the best Film embodying one or more of the principles of the United Nations Charter in 1968}}</ref>
''The Gospel According to Matthew'' was released in the [[United States]] in 1966 and was nominated for three [[39th Academy Awards| Academy Awards]]: [[Academy Award for Best Production Design|Art Direction]] ([[Luigi Scaccianoce]]), [[Academy Award for Best Costume Design|Costume Design]] ([[Danilo Donati]]), and [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Score]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=1966-02-18 |title=Screen: The Life of Jesus: Pasolini's Film Opens at the Fine Arts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/02/18/archives/screenthe-life-of-jesuspasolinis-film-opens-at-the-fine-arts.html |access-date=2026-02-14 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Alternate versions== The 2007 Region 1 DVD release from Legend Films features a [[Film colorization|colourised]], English-dubbed version of the film, in addition to the original, black-and-white Italian-language version. (The English-dubbed version is significantly shorter than the original, with a running time of 91 minutes – roughly 40 minutes shorter than the standard version.)
==See also== * [[List of Easter films]] * [[List of films about angels]]
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * Bart Testa, "To Film a Gospel ... and Advent of the Theoretical Stranger," in Patrick Rumble and Bart Testa (eds.), ''Pier Paolo Pasolini: Contemporary Perspectives.'' University of Toronto Press, Inc., 1994, pp. 180–209. {{ISBN|0-8020-7737-4}}. * "Pasolini, ''Il Cristo dell'Eresia (Il Vangelo secondo Matteo). Sacro e censura nel cinema di Pier Paolo Pasolini'' (Edizioni Joker, 2009) by Erminia Passannanti, {{ISBN|978-88-7536-252-2}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|0058715|The Gospel According to St. Matthew}} * [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-gospel-according-to-st-matthew-am18930 ''The Gospel According to St. Matthew'' at AllMovie] * {{tcmdb title|76775|The Gospel According to St. Matthew}}
{{Pier Paolo Pasolini}} {{Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize}} {{Gospel of Matthew}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gospel According To Matthew, The}} [[Category:1964 films]] [[Category:1964 drama films]] [[Category:Films about Jesus]] [[Category:Film portrayals of Jesus' death and resurrection]] [[Category:Films directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini]] [[Category:Films about communism]] [[Category:Films shot in Matera]] [[Category:Works based on the Gospel of Matthew]] [[Category:Italian historical drama films]] [[Category:French historical drama films]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of John the Baptist]] [[Category:1964 Italian-language films]] [[Category:Marxist works]] [[Category:Pope John XXIII]] [[Category:Portrayals of Mary, mother of Jesus, in film]] [[Category:Religious epic films]] [[Category:Grand Jury Prize (Venice Film Festival) winners]] [[Category:Films scored by Luis Bacalov]] [[Category:Caiaphas]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Pontius Pilate]] [[Category:Portrayals of Saint Joseph in film]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Saint Peter]] [[Category:Depictions of Herod the Great on film]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Salome]] [[Category:1964 Italian films]] [[Category:1964 French films]] [[Category:Cultural depictions of Herod Antipas]]