Jesus of Montreal

A church in Montreal hires a young actor, Daniel, to renew the passion play it stages every year. He starts researching: archaeology, the history of the gospel texts, who Jesus might actually have been. The play he builds shakes its audiences and unsettles the church. At the same time Daniel's own life starts resembling the play: he overturns the tables at an advertising audition, ends up crawling in a hospital, and his organs go to other people. The film's move is to build that parallel without underlining it. Scenes from the play and events in the city fold into each other, and the story never claims a miracle; the parallel remains something the audience assembles. Denys Arcand wrote and directed. Lothaire Bluteau plays Daniel. It won the Jury Prize at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival and became one of the most discussed works in Canadian cinema. Advertising, the law and the church all sit inside the same criticism: each of them wants a product out of Daniel. Who it is for: anyone who likes Canadian cinema and films built on religion that do not preach. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a straightforward story of faith. The film is hard on the church as an institution, the tone slides into satire at times, and the symbols become too explicit in the last section.