Los últimos días en el desierto

This is one film that I have been waiting to see since January 2015. After it premiered at the Sundance film fest and received solid praise out of the gate, I was looking forward to it. But was it picked up for a wide release? No it was not. So, nearly a year and a half later it has finally hit shelves. Recently the box office has had an abnormally high amount of pandering faith driven religious films. Which isn't really a bad thing. They certainly know their audience, and they have cornered the market for their films. That being said, this isn't one of those films. Seeing a movie that is largely religion based you normally see the typical one sided, you're wrong and we are right thing.

I am happy to say that this doesn't do that. This adaptation is about Jesus, playing out in an imagined portion of his forty days of fasting in the desert. As he is trekking through the desert on his way home, he encounters a small family. He quickly realizes that they are in turmoil of emotional proportions.

He decides that their needs out way his own and attempts to aid them. The story mainly takes place during this period of time. Now this movie could have been so incredibly dull. The main story is fairly thin and it doesn't exactly move around that much. But writer/director Rodrigo García has infused this film with palpable emotion. The more we learn about this small family the more we realize that they are pretty dysfunctional.

The father and son don't see eye to eye on anything and the mother is laying on her death bed for the entirety of the films run time. For me the scenes between the son and father really struck true. I often have experienced the same communication issues with various people that these two do. Where you want to say something but don't know how and before you know it, the moment to express that feeling has pasted.

As these issues become more prevalent the more you just want them to work it out. This creates some real drama with in these scenes. But the shining moments of the film come in the short encounters between Ewan McGregor and Ewan McGregor. Who plays both Jesus and the devil. The conversations that they have point out both sides of the religion spectrum.

It presents interesting arguments for both parties. Which honestly helps you feel what Jesus is feeling. The whole point of Jesus's desert journey was to be put on trial to see if he could over come any adversity that the devil could come up with. So when the film puts him through these temptations and presents interesting arguments for either side, it helps you get into the characters shoes.

That being said this film still has a story that is thin as paper. So when you get outside the family drama it can be rather dull. The beautiful cinematography by Lubezski can carry one through a few scenes but not too many. There are some scenes where we watch McGregor just pace around the rocky terrain for long periods of time. And it left me longing for something, anything to happen.

This movie may not be the religious experience some people are looking for but it's really a breath of fresh air in a genre that had little going for it. It seems to have a keen grasp on the story it's adapting and does so with no shortage of grace. It offers excellent performances, beautiful visuals, an insightful story, and characters that you can actually get invested in. If it weren't for the thin plotting and some dull sequences this would truly be an excellent film. But considering all it does right it's definitely worth a watch.

There is an exchange of dialog in this film where Ewan McGregor's character asks another character in the story, "Why do you live in the desert?" and the answer comes back "Because the desert is ruthless ... it strips away all pretense ... it makes you see yourself for who you are."

Now, going into this film I was a little concerned that it was part of the New Wave of faith-based films. Don't get me wrong. I have reviewed several of those, and some are very well done. But what each faith-based film has in common is that it seems at first like a regular film ... and then gets a little odd. Not saying that is a bad thing. But it is odd.

This film starts with a certain tone and stays true to that tone for the entire run time. It never gets odd. For this reason I do not consider it a faith-based film but a true creative work that is is both brilliant and powerful.

The premise is simple -- can you focus on just a few days of one of the most inspirational figures in modern religion (fictionally)and, by the microcosm of those few days, achieve the flavor and the raw emotion of the entire life of that same character?

It is a daunting goal but I think McGregor and Garcia pull it off. To appreciate this film you need to start with no expectations and then get drawn into the film much the same way the central character allows himself to get drawn into the desert. Almost like a meditation, if you like.

In the right mindset this film is like the desert in the quote above. For a brief moment it allows you to see yourself for who you are.

Recommended.

it seems strange. far by the classic story of Jesus in Carantania desert. without the well known temptations and without the expected answers of Son of God. Rodrigo Garcia gives only the portrait of a strange meet of Jesus with a family. few riddles and dialogues and slow action and enigmatic facts. each- far by a religious film. or a coherent story. a riddle. like the riddles of the boy. in fact, only a challenge. puzzle of discreet cultural references from the roof of the Temple to Abraham and Last Temptation, from Pasolini to Paradjanov. a film of gestures and looks. maybe, a poem. ignoring Resurrection. because the Resurrection is the duty of the viewer. perfect subject of debates and controversies, it propose a new, interesting and far to be uninspired portrait of the Savior. Ewan McGregor gives a not comfortable Jesus but one who impress for the honest manner to remind old truths who are , in too many occasions, insignificant. a poem about the small things who defines the life. and nothing more.

I have the feeling, those who did not read The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis or saw the film adaptation directed by Martin Scorsese, could find Last Days in the Desert original, provocative or globally creative.

Otherwise, I think this one is revisiting in a soft and a somehow minimalist style, Kazantzakis great literature and Scorsese's long and "explicit" adaptation.

The script / dialogues / and overall well crafted minimalist structure makes the Last Days in the Desert a very good candidate for a stage play.

Oh, and the cinematography is lovely...

Now, the film does not claim to be historically accurate, not at all...

However, I must admit that I keep experiencing this somehow funny feeling, when I watch "Hollywood" actors playing the role of the biblical or gospel characters on the big or TV screen... There is this perpetual awkward and off vibe floating in the air (of the film)... In the way they look, they move, they talk, they smile, they eat, they gaze (with their attractive blue or green eyes), they get angry, joyful, sad or... when it's time to pray...

A huge part of the whole spiritual and human factors and experiences in the biblical and gospel stories, with or without religion or faith, is deeply rooted in the ancient primitive societies of what we call now the Middle East... Unfortunately not a single "Hollywood" film or actor could render this properly...

Back to reality: This Arthouse (and one more) film about Jesus is fairly good for what it is...

And speaking of Arthouse films about Jesus , Pasolini's work remains, to me, the winner in this category.

This film tells the imagined story of Jesus, and his 40 days of travels in the desert, fasting and praying before his sacrifice for humankind. He meets a family with troubles, and tries to offer a helping hand.

To be honest, I would not have watched "Last Days in the Desert" if it wasn't for Ewan McGregor in the film. After just five minutes, I was thoroughly bored and wished I hadn't started watching it. It shows Ewan McGregor walking around in the desert, in a dull and monotonous environment. There is hardly any dialog until he meets the family. Even then, there is still hardly anything happening. There are very long waits between dialogues, and basically very long waits before anything happens. I sat through the film and was bored by the dullness of the film. The only scene that had a little resonance with me was the scene where the father asked the son a riddle. Otherwise, the rest of the entire film just did not connect or resonate with me at all.