#980: DUMONT, Bruno: La Vie De Jésus (1997)

DUMONT, Bruno (France)
La Vie De Jésus [1997]
Spine #980
Blu-ray


With his stunning debut feature, the risk-taking auteur Bruno Dumont immediately established his reputation as an uncompromising iconoclast on the cutting edge of French cinema. Blending unflinching realism with moments of startling, light-filled beauty, La vie de Jésus finds unexpected philosophical richness in the quotidian, small-town existence of Freddy (nonprofessional David Douche in a revelatory, one-off performance), an aimless young man with epilepsy who, in his childlike simplicity, embodies both great tenderness and terrifying brutality. Leaving the film's cryptic title tantalizingly open to interpretation, Dumont dares viewers to see the divine in a seemingly dead-end world.

96 minutes
Color
Stereo
in French
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2019
Director/Writer


Bruno Dumont was 39 when he wrote and directed La Vie de Jésus.

Other Dumont films in the Collection:

#981: L'Humanité (1999)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Nicholas Elliott.

Commentary

None.

Interview

With Dumont.

Conversation

Between Dumont and critic Phillippe Rouyer from 2014.

Excerpts

From two 1997 episodes of the French television program Le cercle de minuit.

Trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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