Les derniers jours dans le désert

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.

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.

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.