BD 33 The Gospel According to Matthew

[swo17]

The Gospel According to Matthew



Legendary director (and avowed atheist) Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to Matthew [Il vangelo secondo Matteo] is one of the great retellings of the story of Christ – a cinematic rendering (filmed by invitation from the Pope, no less) at once both passionate and poetic.

With stunning black-and-white photography, an eclectic soundtrack (Odetta, Bach, a Congolese mass, etc), and using a cast of non-professionals who voice dialogue drawn directly from scripture, The Gospel According to Matthew depicts the key events in the life of Christ, from immaculate conception to death on the cross.

Vaunted by the Vatican as one of its select few recommended films, acclaimed by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a "great film", and revered by critics and audiences alike, Pasolini’s Oscar-, Golden Lion-, and BAFTA-nominated film remains a magnificent, awe-inspiring experience. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Gospel According to Matthew in a special Dual Format edition.

DUAL FORMAT RELEASE INCLUDING BLU-RAY AND DVD VERSIONS OF THE FILM

• New high-definition transfer in the film's original aspect ratio
• Original Italian theatrical trailer for the feature
• Sopralluoghi in Palestina [Scouting in Palestine], Pasolini's 1965 film on the surveying of locations for The Gospel According to Matthew
• A 1963 newsreel extract on The Gospel According to Matthew and Sopralluoghi in Palestina
• A selection of outtakes from the original Sopralluoghi in Palestina rushes
• Newly translated optional English subtitles on both films
• A 36-page booklet featuring a 1963 letter by Pasolini to Lucio S. Caruso of the Catholic Pro Civitate Christiana; a 2012-updated essay on the film by critic Pasquale Iannone; excerpts from a 1969 interview with Pasolini by Oswald Stack, and more

[swo17]

I've been waiting for even just a decent release of this for years, and now we're getting this, what's sure to be a definitive one. Bravo, MoC!

[Tommaso]

Absolutely. Gary the Beaver once praised the German disc of this film, and I bought it on his recommendation, but it had ridiculously overblown contrast and turned out to be rather unsatisfactory (although it was probably still the best of the bunch, admittedly).

As zedz said elsewhere, an ideal extra would be "Sopralluoghi in Palestina", the film that documents Pasolini's fruitless search for the right locations for "Il Vangelo" in Palestine, but which is also his first great documentary study of the 'archaic' parts of the world, made a few years before he really began to delve into these peoples and places to create his own cinematic mythmaking. But even if MoC should include it, the RHV disc of that film still remains a must-have for the second disc with its excellent full-length Pasolini documentary.

And here's hoping that the several short films/segments that are on the Carlotta 3-discer also show up somewhere, ideally on the RoGoPaG disc. I feel the need to get rid of that French set now

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

I've been waiting for even just a decent release of this for years, and now we're getting this, what's sure to be a definitive one. Bravo, MoC!

Seconded. I'm excited beyond words for this one.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I'm hoping for a steelbook edition that glows in the dark.

[MichaelB]

I'm hoping for a steelbook edition that glows in the dark.

If MoC wants to reverse-engineer the Christ with glowing stigmata that my wife and I bought in Rome a few years back, I'll happily lend it to them. It might add a bit to the production cost, though, not least for the batteries and LEDs.

[antnield]

Pasolini's documentary SOPRALLUOGHI IN PALESTINA is now confirmed on our forthcoming edition of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. Wahay!

[matrixschmatrix]

I'm hoping for a steelbook edition that glows in the dark.

If MoC wants to reverse-engineer the Christ with glowing stigmata that my wife and I bought in Rome a few years back, I'll happily lend it to them. It might add a bit to the production cost, though, not least for the batteries and LEDs.

Did you literally find a flesh-colored Christ that glows in the dark?

[TMDaines]

Pasolini's documentary SOPRALLUOGHI IN PALESTINA is now confirmed on our forthcoming edition of THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW. Wahay!

Now if only they could slip the extensive Una vita memoria documentary on Pasolini (which is the other half of the Sopralluoghi in Palestina release by RHV in Italy) onto one of their upcoming releases and that would be perfect!

[swo17]

Also, if you guys could move up the date of the Second Coming to coincide with your release, that would be great.

[peerpee]

Yes, I think the second Stone Roses album is getting the deluxe treatment around that time, so everything's all set!

[peerpee]

We've had a few emails saying that we've got the title wrong. We haven't!

This will be in the booklet:

"A NOTE ON THE TITLE: While Pier Paolo Pasolini’s work often engages with religious themes, symbols, and ideas, his work is not religious in any straightforward understanding of the term, indeed Pasolini is believed to have been an atheist. The director’s complex, deeply considered relationship with religion is apparent in the titling of his 1964 film. Notably, the original Italian (Il vangelo secondo Matteo) does not include the word “saint” (i.e. santo). Despite this deliberate choice, one not without meaning in terms of the film’s exploration of ideas, Il vangelo secondo Matteo was distributed in the UK (and in other English-speaking countries) under the title The Gospel According to St. Matthew. In a 1969 interview, asked about this issue, Pasolini responded in unequivocal fashion.

Question: “Who controls things like changing the title of a film – because you presumably know Il vangelo secondo Matteo was changed in England…”

Answer: “That’s something I wonder about myself, with considerable anguish I must say. I don’t know what to do about this kind of thing. I’d like to know how you do find out, because I feel completely helpless.”

It is for this reason, i.e. to correct a historical error in the film’s distribution, that we present Il vangelo secondo Matteo under its correct translated title of The Gospel According to Matthew."

[Edited twice to adjust the frigging formatting.]

[otis]

The director’s complex, deeply considered relationship with religion is apparent in the titling of his 1964 film. Notably, the original Italian (Il vangelo secondo Matteo) does not include the word “saint” (i.e. santo).

I don't think this is as significant as it seems, Nick. Il vangelo secondo Matteo is the standard way of referring to St. Matthew's Gospel in Italian - see here and here (the Vatican's website).

[zedz]

But the relevant issue is whether or not the distinction was relevant to Pasolini, and Nick's just presented direct evidence that it was. Also, in Sopralluoghi in Palestina, it seems like Pasolini refers to the gospel itself with the "santo" intacto, so he seems to be making a pointed distinction in the title of his adaptation.

[otis]

Well, not exactly. Did the interviewer in Nick's extract go on to tell Pasolini what the English title was? It's not clear. Pasolini's response is pretty vague - it could be that he thought the title had been changed to something entirely different (as wasn't/isn't uncommon with the Italian titles of foreign films, certainly). As it is, I don't think Nick's presented sufficient evidence that Pasolini objected to the title change for religious reasons (which seems to be the suggestion). The Italian title is the standard name for Pasolini's source text, as used by the Catholic church. To say that this is a pointed distinction is like saying that because I refer to The Bible, I'm denying its spiritual value, because some people call it The Holy Bible. That may be true, but plenty of believers just call it The Bible. If I wanted to specifically deny its spiritual value, I'd have to refer to it as The non-holy Bible. Likewise, if Pasolini had called his film The Gospel According to Matthew (who wasn't a Saint), there'd be reasonable cause for concern.

I think the desire to translate films' titles as accurately as possible is an admirable one. I just don't think in this particular case the difference has the significance that's being read into it. Nick, have you talked to any Italian native speakers about this?

[matrixschmatrix]

That may be true, but plenty of believers just call it The Bible. If I wanted to specifically deny its spiritual value, I'd have to refer to it as The non-holy Bible. Likewise, if Pasolini had called his film The Gospel According to Matthew (who wasn't a Saint), there'd be reasonable cause for concern.

Well that would be childish, and distant from the point- I don't think Nick is claiming that Pasolini was interested in specifically denying the concept of sainthood, just that the movie was more interested in them as people than as transcendental figures. In arguing that, it's backed up by the best possible evidence, the freaking movie itself.

[TMDaines]

I think the desire to translate films' titles as accurately as possible is an admirable one. I just don't think in this particular case the difference has the significance that's being read into it. Nick, have you talked to any Italian native speakers about this?

I'm not a native speaker (just someone part way through an Italian degree) but I don't really understand the need to change this one either. I'm presuming the team have had some kind of serious communication with some Italian film scholars who know what they're talking about but, at first glance, it seems like a bad translation with interference from Italian to me. It's completely normal to omit "Saint" in Italian - as it is in indeed many languages - but in English we usually use the Saint title.

[matrixschmatrix]

It's fairly normal to omit the 'Saint' in English, too- I know in Church, as a kid, I never heard the 'Saint' title included. Sticking it in artificially seems odd and against the grain of the film.

[frenzy]

I strongly believe that I have read accounts from Pasolini himself addressing the issue, though I can't remember where. He was, as most know, an atheist (though an atheist strongly occupied with the aesthetics and poetics of religion) but also a linguist (as well as poet, political commentator etc etc). I can assure you, Pasolini's titles are well thought through. Language was maybe his main preoccupation and passion. To say that he implied the "saint" in the title without marking it, would be grossly underestimating Pasolini.

Pasolini was way more subtle than "The non-holy Bible". In fact, as a structuralist, one could safely argue that Pasolini indeed was preoccupied in breaking down language, subverting it; he liked to call himself a heretic. Writing poetry in the friulian dialect, for instance, was his way of protesting the standard Italian language incorporated by the bourgeoisie.

I think MoC have a pretty solid case.

[TMDaines]

It's fairly normal to omit the 'Saint' in English, too- I know in Church, as a kid, I never heard the 'Saint' title included. Sticking it in artificially seems odd and against the grain of the film.

But in works of art it the "Saint" tends to be present though, hence St Matthew Passion in English. The French and Spanish titles too add the "Saint" but the Italian, German and Russian don't.

I don't think it's wrong to change this title but at the same time it doesn't really make it any more accurate than before.

[zedz]

Having done five minutes of internet research on the subject I'm going to flip-flop over to otis's side. There does indeed seem to be no such thing as "Il vangelo secondo San Matteo" except, ironically enough, as a mis-reverse-engineered Italianing of the title of Pasolini's film!

[MichaelB]

I'm still in favour of the change.

Whatever the ins and outs of the original Italian phrasing, there is no doubt that the word 'saint' does not appear - and so adding it to the English version constitutes an editorial decision by definition. In this particular case, it also runs the risk of adding a spiritual dimension to the title that Pasolini may not have intended.

So it seems to me that the easiest way of avoiding that risk is to opt for a completely literal translation - which, handily, also happens to read well in English (unlike Thieves of Bicycles or Whisperings and Cries). Even more handily, the end result is almost identical to the previous "official" title, to the extent that it's hard to imagine anyone getting confused as to which film is being released.

[ellipsis7]

This one seems to me a no brainer... "Il Vangelo secondo Matteo" (note the capital letters in the correct rendering of the title, something missing in previous posts*) translates straightforwardly as "The Gospel according to Matthew"...

* Although on the opening credits it is all rendered in upper case....

[zitherstrings]

Capital letters not surprising/relevant. It's Italian. They capitalize different. Proper English would capitalize different words.

[ellipsis7]

They do it just like so...