Hartley on low-key form: Martin Donovan, born to play Jesus, comes as Messiah to millenial Manhatten; P.J. Harvey is excellent as sidekick Magdelena. A slight film, but drily amusing, short and sweet.
The Book of Life
1998
Action / Comedy / Fantasy
The Book of Life
1998
Action / Comedy / Fantasy
Plot summary
New Year's Eve takes on new meaning when the Devil, Jesus Christ, and Christ's assistant Magdalena discuss and debate the End of the World.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
January 17, 2024 at 03:56 PM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
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Born to play Jesus
Closing Time
The Devil and Jesus discuss the end of the world on the eve of the new millennium. It's like a more humanistic and clever version of "Dogma" with lots of shaky, blur streaked Wang Kar Wai-ish digital camera work. An enjoyable experiment, but not as effortless as Hartley's earlier films. I still haven't a movie by him I haven't enjoyed. Martin Donovan as always delivers the deadpan dialog and rock starlet P.J. Harvey backs him as Magdalena his assistant (completely platonic). I think the woman whose soul get's sold is Hartley's wife. It does however benefit from a short time, never lingering longer than it needs to or wasting any time. I give it an extra half star for knowing when to close shop. A good sense of timing is important.
Much better than "Dogma"
Though not Hal Hartley's best work (my personal favorite is "Surviving Desire"), there is still much to like about this movie, especially for fans of Hartley's dialogues. Even to audiences new to Hartley, I would definitely recommend this movie over the sophomoric "Dogma." This movie is more intelligent, truer to its source material (the Bible), and more fun than any of the other pre-millennium apocalypse movies.
This movie is actually part of the French "2000 As Seen By." (2000 Par Vu) series; as such, it is perhaps even a lower-budget film than Hartley's other works. While the need for simple scenes shot with digital camera is understandable in this context, the main problem with this movie is the unfortunate overuse of the blurry/jittery effect. I'd be happy to never see this effect used in a movie again; especially at the beginning, it almost makes the movie unwatchable. But overlook this flaw, and you'll be treated to a fine film. Especially notable is Magdalena (played by P.J. Harvey) relating how Jesus saved her from being stoned to death; a short scene I found surprisingly moving. (Despite the fact that it was NOT Mary Magdalene that this happened to; the woman in the Bible was unnamed.)