Erbarme dich - Matthäus Passion Stories

In "Erbarme dich" people tell about the influence the St Matthew Passion of Bach has had on their personal lives.

Perhaps the most startling story is that of the woman who tells she literally thanks her life to the St Matthew. Her mother was pregnant on later age and had already decided to have an abortion until she listened to the St Matthew.

My own memories are less pregnant but nevertheless the St Matthew also plays a role in my life. I was born in the city of Naarden. This city is famous in the Netherlands for his yearly St Matthew performances in the central church. Not longer living in Naarden I still listen to the St Matthew every year at eastern.

One of the subjects that the documentary touches is the difference between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. As a sort of medieval opera the St Matthew is more of the liking of Roman Cayholics while the more sober Johannes Passion suits the Protestants better.

There are also filmfragments in the documentary. Showing "Fanny and Alexander" (1982, Ingmar Bergman) is in line with the just mentioned difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants because this is also one of the themes of this film. Harder to understand is the inclusion of "Accatone" (1961, Pier Paolo Pasolini). Yes, the St Matthew has a prominent place in the soundtrack of this movie but was "Il vangelo secondo Matteo" (1964) not a more logical choice from the oeuvre of Pasolini?

In the documentary there is a group of homeless people that form a "tableau vivant" of the last supper. Maybe this is meant as a wink to a scene from "Viridiana" (1961, Luis Bunuel), but was in my opinion quite superfluous and not very respectful to treat these homeless people as a sort of extra's.

Needless to say the music in this documentary is superb.