Les derniers jours dans le désert

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.

A slow burning affair that will have many reaching for the off button or catching a quick nap during proceedings, Rodrigo Garcia visually striking and occasionally touching interpretation of Jesus's time of 40 days and 40 nights of fasting isn't a film for everyone but considering the other faith based films that have come our way over recent times, The Last Days in the Desert is a cut above other similar fair.

Joining Jesus's last portion of his experience as he travels back towards Jerusalem through the solemn desert, tempted as he goes, only for him to find a place of resting and meaning with Ciaran Hind's poor farming family consisting of a sick wife and depressed son, whose played rather disappointingly by Tye Sheridan.

With this, Garcia is less concerned with focusing on Jesus's more solitary trip, rather the "what if" scenario of his dealings with such a family and the moral choices he makes within his time with them, as he too continues to ponder his important future that lay at the end of his trip.

Played surprisingly by Ewan McGregor, who makes little to no effort at hiding his far from suitable linage in concerns to playing the Middle Eastern messiah but makes it work by the films later stages, we do get a great sense of feeling at the enormity of Jesus's path that he must follow and even though we get no glimpses of miracles or out of the ordinary occurrences, the story humanises Jesus's to the point that he feels like an ordinary man, set forth on an extraordinary journey and it's a nice point of difference from other such films that would prefer to focus on the miraculous, over the everyday.

It would've been an easy sell or a more obvious choice for Garcia to go all out and let his imagination run wild but the most out-there we get is McGregor playing off against McGregor as the prince of this world assumes the form of Jesus as he tries to cloud his judgement of what is to come.

The other detail working in Garcia's film favour is the stunning work of Terrence Malick's DOP Emmanuel Lubezki who captures the unforgiving lands of the Middle East with stunning authority.

Anyone familiar with Malick's more recent works will be able to instantly pinpoint the skills of the world class cinematographer as his camera glides over the dusty landscape and follows the cast on their various strolls and combined with Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans classy score, Last Days feels like a polished and assured production, even if its fanfare free release suggests it wasn't going to be the case.

Final Say –

At times to slow and ponderous to ever threaten to become a must-see with slightly too much focus on Hind's and his family, Garcia who has shown a wise hand with fine dramas like Mother and Child and Nine Lives delivers an above average interpretation of a well-known Bible story and The Last Days in the Desert ends up becoming a quietly moving portrait of a human being unlike any other that was set on upon a path of greatness.

3 big bed bugs out of 5

To all its credit, "Albert Nobbs" director Rodrigo Garcia makes a marvelous transition of the story of the temptation of Jesus to the art-house scene, cementing this "not intended for the Christian audiences". Though the art-house Biblical story is nothing unusual, "Last Days in the Desert" makes a unique turn of focusing it as a father-son story. That is where the flaws turn out. Driving the focus away from Jesus makes the story unjustifiable to explore and insincere to depict. However, the grandiose coming from Ewan McGregor's presence and the sense of struggle makes the journey satisfying. There could have been more depth to explore from a simple scripture about Jesus' 40 days in the desert, rather than adding a father-son subplot. But from what was offered, Garcia makes an interesting piece to talk about.

-mild spoilers ahead- Last Days In The Desert is a stark, desolate looking film. It has a quiet and beautifully shot atmosphere that I really liked.

In the story, Jesus goes into the desert for self-reflection, to come across a family living there in the middle of nowhere. He's tempted to stick around rather than continue with his seemingly hopeless, one-way conversation with God. All the while, being harassed by Satan, in the form of Jesus himself.

Here is my biggest gripe with the film, and many other movies related to Christians. The writers stack the deck completely against any pious protagonist, Jesus being the case here. Satan constantly lectures Jesus, sowing seeds of doubt, always coming out ahead in their rhetorical matches of one-upmanship. Jesus barely replies to anything, and when he does, it's just to eek out some passive comment. There is essentially nothing written for him. Despite being a self-admitted liar, Satan's stories are given quite a bit of credence by the length of screen time they get and the tepid response from the Son of God. I've seen this in many Hollywood, Christian films, and it seems to be the go-to method of backhanding the religion. I do understand this is (fictionally) supposed to show a green Jesus trying to figure out God's purpose and how to convey His message, but fer cryin' out loud, he can barely hold a conversation. Just lost in thought.

There is an interesting parallel going of between the dysfunctional father-son relationship of the desert family and Jesus' own relationship with his Father. That's fine. I just wish they gave Jesus a voice in his own movie.

Despite its very slow pacing, I found this film to be an absorbing tale, with a concise and sharp screenplay from Colombian filmmaker Rodrigo Garcia, who also directed the movie.

Ewan McGregor does well in his portrayal of Yeshua (Jesus). who has entered the desert alone for prayer and reflection, trying to get in touch with his inner self and to also connect spiritually with his Father. McGregor has a dual role here, as he also plays The Demon (Satan), who taunts and tempts Yeshua along the way.

Yeshua, on his way to Jerusalem, encounters a family living in the desert, and the strong acting of each family member from Ciaran Hinds, Tye Sheridan, and Ayelet Zurer adds well to the mix, as well as the movie being enhanced by its spectacular cinematography.

Overall, if one doesn't mind the low-key and very deliberate pacing, there's an engrossing tale to be told here, buoyed by a fine cast and the no-frills writing of Garcia.