TMS Discussion: How Two Gay Italian Filmmakers Portrayed Jesus Christ

(Titanus Productions)

With every spring season we get Easter season, which means our token, mainstream Christian friendly film is also appropriately released. Last year it was Rosalind Ross’ Father Stu, this year it’s Jon Erwin & Brent McCorkle’s Jesus Revolution. The question of way so many religious themed movies struggle to land quality wise remains to be answered, and there are those still arguing all movies featuring God as a subject are guised as propaganda. But whenever these topics come up, I’m usually reminded how the most critically acclaimed portrayals of Jesus Christ’s life are adapted by two men who were opposites in ethics, yet similar in morals. Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964) and Franco Zeffirelli’s “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977) execute the same story, but with different productions. St. Matthew is a two-hour B&W drama shot in Pasolini’s home country of Italy with his native language, and unknown locals from both Italy and Spain cast for a lowkey, documentary like feature. “Nazareth” is an epic, six-hour, English language mini-series co-distributed by ITV and NBC, shot in Morocco and Tunisia with color cinematography, and more A-list stars than you can imagine surrounding English character actor Robert Powell as the son of God.

A lot of Americans who grew up Catholic or in other Christian branches will remember “Jesus of Nazareth” as the biblical screen interpretation shown in Sunday schools and religious ed. classes in the 1980s to early 2000s. Next to Ted Neeley in Norman Jewison’s Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), Robert Powell was the image of Jesus I had in my head as a child. Whereas I wasn’t even aware of The Gospel According to St. Matthew until I was almost out of film school. Unless you seek out the film yourself, this biblical drama doesn’t come up much in TV syndication and has never gotten publicized theatrical re-releases in the US. One would assume it’s because there are no big names attached to draw in American viewers, as well as Pasolini’s own controversial reputation; whether it’s his radically leftist political opinions or his disturbingly graphic horror-period drama Saló, or 120 Days of Sodom (1975). In fact, if you’re already familiar with Saló, you would be the most surprised to learn the director’s interpretation of Jesus’ teachings is pretty straight-forward and traditional. One wonders, why is a man who believes in Marxism interested in Christianity? Well, it sounds like even Pasolini himself didn’t fully have the answer to that either. Born a secular Jew and an atheist as an adult, as well as openly homosexual [much to his Medea (1969) leading lady Maria Callas’ disappointment]; the filmmaker initially took up Pope John XXIII’s challenge in 1962 to make a new film with Catholic themes and imagery from a different point of view. Rather than come up with his own story though, Pasolini ended up reading all four Gospels in the Bible and instantly decided to directly adapt Matthew’s. “John was too mystical, Mark was too vulgar, Luke too sentimental,” he later explained. According to Pasolini, Matthew was the section of the Bible closest to his Marxist leanings. When confronted by the press and liberals over his lack of spiritual beliefs and how he could make such a flattering portrayal of God, Christ and the kingdom of Heaven in St. Matthew; Pasolini’s official response was: “If you know I am an unbeliever, then you must know me better than I know myself.”

(ITV / NBC)

Unlike Pasolini, who was comfortable with his sexuality and uncertain with his beliefs, Zeffirelli was the opposite. The fellow director didn’t publicly come out as gay until his 70s [though it was considered an open secret in the film community], was a dedicated Catholic, served in WWII for the British sector and was what sounds like the Italian version of a Libertarian. Like with St. Matthew, “Nazareth” was suggested a decade later by a pope. This time it was Pope Paul VI after he was impressed with Gianfranco de Bosio’s “Moses the Lawgiver” (1974), which was produced by Lew Grade, also of “Nazareth.” Renowned for his stunning Shakespearean costume dramas—most famously Romeo & Juliet (1968)—naturally a biblical epic would be a no-brainer for Zeffirelli. And the production values were no less than extravagant. The auteur recruited his Juliet, Olivia Hussey, to portray the Virgin Mary, Anne Bancroft was cast as Mary Magdalene, Michael York as John the Baptist, Rod Steiger as Pontius Pilate, James Farentino as Peter, Christopher Plummer as Herod Antipas, Ian McShane as Judas Iscariot and Claudia Cardinale as the possessed adulteress, just to name some of the big shots on screen. Of course, since this is a major production, everyone keeps their own accents, which are mostly American and British. Legendary French film composer Maurice Jarre was brought on to provide the score and respected English author Anthony Burgess of A Clockwork Orange (1962) fame contributed to the teleplay.

Interestingly enough, though both “Nazareth” and St. Matthew were met with positive reception and Zeffirelli was the more committed follower, the mini-series actually takes more artistic liberties with the plot progression. Pasolini impressively didn’t alter any dialogue from the original written Gospel. For “Nazareth,” Powell was made up with the typical ‘dirty hippie’ aesthetic most associate with Jesus. But in St. Matthew, Enrique Irazoqui sports a goatee, unibrow and slicked back hair. Probably because the movie was shot a couple years before hippies would start making their mark culturally in the 20th century. The two biblical interpretations basically come down to what you prefer in a viewing experience. Pasolini’s film is a raw, neorealistic take that features some artsy direction such as the soundtrack consisting of classical music, the 1927 Blind Willie Johnson blues track ‘Dark was the Night,’ Odetta’s 1960 rendition of the gospel tune ‘Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child,’ and original music by film composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov. Zeffirelli’s mini-series goes for an elaborate Hollywood production that is for the masses, while it’s mostly film fanatics who seek out Pasolini’s feature.

Upon release, The Gospel According to St. Matthew won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, was nominated for three Oscars, a BAFTA and chosen by the Vatican as one of the 25 greatest religious themed films. “Jesus of Nazareth” earned two Emmy nominations, six BAFTA noms, and won Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design by the Italian Syndicate of Film Journalists. In November 1975, the same month Saló was released, Pasolini’s life and career were cut short when he was mysteriously murdered while visiting the beach in Ostia, Italy. Zeffirelli continued to direct successful period pieces into the next century and passed at age 96 in 2019. Two legacies with different conclusions and even some controversies subject for other articles. But their work made an impact on multiple communities and the art still speaks for itself.