The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Continental) (1964)

PUBLICITY SCENE MAT 2B Joseph (Marcello Morante) leads Mary (Margherita Caruso) and the Infant Jesus from Bethlehem after Herod I decrees that all first born infants be destroyed in the award winning motion picture, “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.” Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Walter Reade-Sterling presentation is opening at the seanieaAeteneotexe-seueet theatre on o..........0000. ee ttiee and is released by Continental. BIBLICAL FILM DRAWS ENTHUSIASTIC PRAISE Walter Reade-Sterling’s ‘““The Gospel According To St. Matthew,” which opens ............. AG THE coicscsiesasesis theatre, has brought to an end, for the moment at least, the torrent of critical displeasure that inevitably has greeted the movie’s treatment of the scriptures. Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s version of the life of Jesus Christ has been welcomed from every side with rapturous reviews. Life Magazine, for example, called “ ‘The Gospel According To St. Matthew’ the best life of Jesus ever placed on film and probably the finest religious film ever made as well. Indeed, it may come to rank, as the years add to our perspective, among the great movies of all time, regardless of subject.” Redbook Magazine echoes these sentiments. ‘“ “The Gospel According To St. Matthew’ is outstanding in the field of religious films .. . Its very simplicity makes this a most impressive film that leaves the viewer feeling this is the way it must have been.”’ Even such dissimilar magazines as Playboy and Seventeen found themselves in agreement on this motion picture. Playboy called it “simply, a great film... something of a miracle.” Seventeen, selecting it as its Picture of the Month for July, 1966, called it “an extraordinary film of absorbing interest both to those who believe and those who do not...” The leading religious publications of all faiths were also generous with their praise. Today’s Family, a Catholic Family Monthly, termed ““The Gospel,” “the greatest film on the life of Christ ever made.” The Christian Century called it “a towering work of art... succeeds where Hollywood has so far failed.” Jubilee Magazine said, “The impossible has happened: a film about the life of Christ, which is beautiful, credible, sane, and-fit to be seen by any person with normal sensitivity .. . It is the most inspiring and revealing film yet to be made about the life of Christ. It is the most truthful, too.” No less enthusiastic were the magazines for teen-agers and children. Scholastic Magazine, for example, described “The Gospel” as “the most sincerely religious document we _ have ever watched on the screen... Watching this remarkable movie is more than a visual experience. It’s truly a revelation.” “The Gospel According To St. Matthew” won the International Catholic Film Office’s Grand Prize. It is released by Continental, a division of Walter Reade-Sterling, Inc. SCENE MAT 2A The scene of “The Last Supper” as depicted in Pier Paolo Pasolini’s “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW,” the Walter ReadeSterling award winning presentation released by Continental will open at WG 5s teconcteth evetecesskestsauees theatre on SCENE MAT 1A Enrique Irazoqui portrays Christ in the award winning motion picture “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.” Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, the Walter Reade-Sterling presentation acclaimed by Life Magazine as “One of the great films of all time” will open at the 2.0.0.0... theatre OU 5s sasha eseedd avededieeetioaes It is being released by Continental. ‘THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO oT. MATTHEW’ TO OPEN......... Continental’s “The Gospel According To St. Matthew,” widely acclaimed as the finest religious film ever made and, according to Life Magazine, “one of the great movies of all time,” opens ................... at the er theatre. The biblical fim, produced by Alfredo Bini and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, faithfully follows the Apostle Matthew’s version of the story of Christ. Dedicated to the memory of Pope John XXIII, the Italian film has collected a wide range of film awards from around the globe, including the coveted International Catholic Film Office Award and five awards at the Venice Film Festival. Filmed in widescreen and black and white on location in Sicily, ‘““The Gospel” is enacted by a cast of non-professionals. Enrique Irazoqui, a Spanish student, was chosen to portray Christ. Margherita Caruso is cast as Mary in her youth, and Susanna Pasolini, the director’s mother, plays Mary in later life. “The Gospel According To St. Matthew” is being released by Continental, a division of Walter Reade-Sterling. POPE JOHN’S VISIT INSPIRED BIBLICAL FILM A chance visit to the city of Florence by motion picture director Pier Paolo Pasolini on the same day that Pope John XXIII visited that Italian city led to the conception of the eventual production of Pasolini’s universally acclaimed “The Gospel According To St. Matthew,” which will open ........00000000000000...... Fal F< Theatre. Pasolini, in avoiding the crush of the crowds in the streets out to greet the much loved Pope, remained in his hotel room where he found the only reading material available to him was a Gideon Bible. It was a casual rereading of the Gospel According To St. Matthew that prompted him to make the picture. Unlike previous attempts to transfer the story of Christ to the movie screen, Pasolini limited himself to the single Gospel. No additional dialogue was written for the film; only those words written by St. Matthew are used and only those scenes depicted by him are enacted. The miracles described by the other Evangelists .. . unless also mentioned by St. Matthew ... are not in the film. The most difficult problem in the making of the film, according to Pasolini, was the casting of the part of Christ. The director decided to use a poet in ’til-now impossible role for any actor and he interviewed poets without success. One day a Spanish student of economics, Enrique Irazoqui, telephoned the director for an appointment for a discussion of cultural problems. As soon as Pasolini saw the young man’s face (his features recalling Christ’s face in El Greco’s paintings) he asked him to work in the film. There are other seemingly familiar faces in the film, representing Apostles, soldiers, priests, pharisees and fishermen, but they too were amateurs, chosen from among the peasants and shepherds from Lucani and Calabria. Pasolini set out to make a film of the life of Christ that was not just another ‘‘Hollywood”’ version of a Biblical theme. The critics agreed unanimously that he has succeeded and, as Life Magazine stated, he has created “the best life of Jesus ever placed on film and it is probably the finest religious film ever made as well.” SCENE MAT 2C Judas (Otello Sestili) plants a kiss on the cheek of Christ (Enrique Irazoqui) in the award winning film, “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.” Hailed by Life Magazine as “One of the great films of all time,” the Walter Reade-Sterling presentation, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini and released by Continental will open at the ............00....0.e theatre ON 2.0.0... cceeecceceeeeceeeee ‘GOSPEL’ DIRECTOR AVOIDS CLICHES... FILMS BIBLICAL TRIUMPH “THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW,” the highly acclaimed motion picture version of the Life of Christ which opens .................... theatre On oo... ceceeeee. ,isa distinctly non-Hollywood approach to its subject. Italian director, Pier Paolo Pasolini sought to create a film which avoided the pious cliches that have adorned every life of Christ seen to date.