The Gospel According to Matthew [Il vangelo secondo Matteo] (Dual format)

Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini

1964 Italy

Biography Drama History

#33

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TECHNICAL DETAILS

TECHNICAL DETAILS
  • Country: Italy
  • Language: Italian
  • Year: 1964
  • Runtime: 138
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
  • Colour: Black & White
  • Certificate: U
  • Subtitles: English (optional)
  • Genre: Biography
  • SKU: EKA70046
  • 2 Discs
  • Release Date: Mar 26, 2012
Format:
Region: B

SYNOPSIS

Legendary director (and avowed atheist) Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to Matthew [Il vangelo secondo Matteo] is one of the great retellings of the story of Christ – a cinematic rendering (filmed by invitation from the Pope, no less) at once both passionate and poetic.

With stunning black-and-white photography, an eclectic soundtrack (Odetta, Bach, a Congolese mass, etc), and using a cast of non-professionals who voice dialogue drawn directly from scripture, The Gospel According to Matthew depicts the key events in the life of Christ, from immaculate conception to death on the cross.

Vaunted by the Vatican as one of its select few recommended films, acclaimed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a “great film”, and revered by critics and audiences alike, Pasolini’s Oscar-, Golden Lion-, and BAFTA-nominated film remains a magnificent, awe-inspiring experience. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Gospel According to Matthew alongside Pasolini’s 1963 feature on the making of the film, Sopralluoghi in Palestina [Scouting in Palestine], in a special Dual Format edition.

A NOTE ON THE TITLE: While Pier Paolo Pasolini’s work often engages with religious themes, symbols, and ideas, his work is not religious in any straightforward understanding of the term, indeed Pasolini is believed to have been an atheist. The director’s complex, deeply considered relationship with religion is apparent in the titling of his 1964 film. Notably, the original Italian (Il vangelo secondo Matteo) does not include the word “saint” (i.e. santo). Despite this deliberate choice, one not without meaning in terms of the film’s exploration of ideas, Il vangelo secondo Matteo was distributed in the UK (and in other English-speaking countries) under the title The Gospel According to St. Matthew. In a 1969 interview, asked about this issue, Pasolini responded in unequivocal fashion.

Question: “Who controls things like changing the title of a film – because you presumably know Il vangelo secondo Matteo was changed in England…”

Answer: “That’s something I wonder about myself, with considerable anguish I must say. I don’t know what to do about this kind of thing. I’d like to know how you do find out, because I feel completely helpless.”

It is for this reason, i.e. to correct a historical error in the film’s distribution, that we present Il vangelo secondo Matteo under its correct translated title of The Gospel According to Matthew.

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • DUAL FORMAT RELEASE INCLUDING BLU-RAY AND DVD VERSIONS OF THE FILM
  • New high-definition transfer in the film’s original aspect ratio
  • Original Italian theatrical trailer for the feature
  • Sopralluoghi in Palestina [Scouting in Palestine], Pasolini’s 1965 film on the surveying of locations for The Gospel According to Matthew
  • A 1963 newsreel extract on The Gospel According to Matthew and Sopralluoghi in Palestina
  • A selection of outtakes from the original Sopralluoghi in Palestina rushes
  • Newly translated optional English subtitles on both films
  • A 36-page booklet featuring a 1963 letter by Pasolini to Lucio S. Caruso of the Catholic Pro Civitate Christiana; a 2012-updated essay on the film by critic Pasquale Iannone; excerpts from a 1969 interview with Pasolini by Oswald Stack, and more

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