Jesus – The Film

From the annunciation to the ascension, this black-and-white biopic takes a strictly chronological approach to the “greatest story ever told”. Yet in the best silent-film tradition, it distorts reality with effusive and expressionist devices. Even in the womb, the baby Jesus is already a beanpole; the holy family is rife with internal strife; Satan is a debaucher who uses sex, drugs and rock-and-roll as temptations, and Maria Magdalena is a crusty hussy… Premiering in the Berlinale’s Forum section in 1986, this cinematic burlesque was the first in the long line of biblical movies around the world to be filmed in Super 8. The “monumental film about the life and suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ” compiles 35 episodes from the New Testament in retellings or entirely new interpretations by 22 filmmakers, whether individuals or collectives, from East and West. The uniting element is the title character, embodied by the film’s initiator and coordinator, director Michael Brynntrup, who moved from Catholic Münster to West Berlin in 1982. Like most of the people involved in the film, he was a member of the active subculture in then West Berlin’s queer, punk and avant-garde scene.