Golgotha

This movie was aired on french television when i was kid. However,I can't say the year and it's a real pity! Anyway due to its Christian & Family content, this was not a DANGER for my parents and i'm pretty sure i watched it on a afternoon, alone or maybe with my twin brother...

I WISH I HAD NOT !

Because watching this movie about Jesus life, so about him DYING and RESURRECTING, my child mind understood FOR THE 1ST TIME EVER, i was going to die one day AND NOT come back !

So this movie just broke me: it was a lot of tears, sleeping panic, deep anxiety ...

My parents first reaction was to forbid any violent TV content, and after a time, as life is, i overcame that terrible period ... I think that this was the moment when i developed my sleeping habit to imagine stories when i close my eyes...

As a teen and now an adult, i have always in mind the truly wise answer of our french actor Gérard Jugnot when asked about his death : " Yes... i'm thinking about it ... but like every people, i suppose: sometimes a bit and other times, not at all " ! Thanks Gégé, I AGREE with all my heart !

You can miss watching this French peplum from 1935 especially directed by Julien Divivier for what it represents at different level, especially to the memory of the French cinema industry. Seeing Jean Gavin as Ponce Pilate or Harry Baur as King Herod is quite something.

What makes this film of paramount interest is the way Duvivier gives the lead of the film to the crowds. The two greatest scenes are the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, probably the best screening of that event ever, and the Golgotha scene of the passage to the crucifixion. In both scenes the crowd takes over the film entirely while the leading characters are almost swept away as elements of minor importance, they somehow get lost and become only supporting actors to the great movement of the crowd. The way this is filmed is monumentally impressive, Duvivier actually has the crowds in his command, and everything seems perfectly natural, as if it happened in the present moment of this almost documentary journalist filming. It has been pointed out that this film is the forerunner to both Pasolini's "Gospel of St. Matthew" and Mel Gibson's gory splatter version of the passion, while this is more realistic without exaggerations and with a much more convincing Christ than Pasolini's callous revolutionary. It is actually striking how much this Christ looks exactly like the image on the shroud of Turin, as if Duvivier had tried to get as close to that as possible - I don't know if that was Duvivier's intention, but it seems almost likely. Jacques Ibert's great music plays the other lead, resounding throughout the film, with great breathtaking pauses for special more intimate scenes, and very appropriately he uses the ancient Latin anthem "Dies irae", used by so many composers, for the Golgotha scene. In brief, the whole film is monumentally impressive and much more striking and convincing than almost all the others.

It is a profound special film. Seductive for cinematography and for wise solutions for few moments of the story, for details and for the nuances brilliant explored. It seems be the grandfather of Gospel of Matthew by Pasolini and source of inspiration for the Passion of Christ by Mel Gibson. Its sins, after decades and decades, are insignificant. The admiration for Jean Gabin is not touched by his Pilat of Pont, Robert le Vigan is, maybe, not the expected option for Jesus , but a decent one and the presence of Juliette Verneuil as Mary and Harry Baur as Herod are a precious gift, The entry in Jerusalem is real great. A beautiful architecture, a splendid result.

The scale of the production is impressive, especially in the humongous crowd scenes and the climactic thunderstorm effects. But the script is just ticking off familiar boxes ✔. Jean Gabin has one of his earliest - and oddest - parts as Pontius Pilate. The actor who played Jesus looked too old for the role in closeups....although an IMDb search confirms he was indeed just 35 at the time. **1/2 out of 4.