Mary Magdalene

Seen at the beautiful Regent Cinema in Ballarat

Bea says: This film was striking in its simple beauty.  The lives of Jesus and the disciples were simple, with few if any possessions and little money.  Clothing was plain and serviceable, with few changes of garments, a blanket worn over the shoulder which doubled as something for sleeping, and the only decoration being beautiful embroidery.  Indeed, there is a special scene where Mary (Rooney Mara) gets a newly embroidered dress to wear when her intended husband comes for dinner, but when Mary leaves home to follow Jesus (Joaquin Phoenix) she takes nothing but her blanket.  Everyone looks exactly like they did in my copy of the Children’s Bible, but with beautiful cinematography.\

The pace was also simple – slow, with frequent long silences.  Afterwards, Cecil and I thought that it would have reflected the pace of life then, without so many things to distract.  Walking in the wilderness to get from place to place, hearing only the sound of birds, for example.  Very different from rushing out of the house, trying to remember everything, getting into a car or onto a train, checking email, etc etc.

I have some knowledge of the story, but not, it turned out, full knowledge.  I did not know that Mary was actually from Magdalene (hence her name; I had just thought it was her name); I did not actually know that she had travelled extensively with Jesus and the disciples, that she baptised people (particularly women), or that she was first to spread the news of Jesus’ resurrection.  I knew that her reputation as a fallen woman was disputed, and I was also aware of the various Dan Brown-esque ideas about her having Jesus’ child and so on.  This film aims to present Mary as a kind of 13^th disciple, or “apostle of apostles” which apparently the Vatican now recognises her as, and it is refreshing to see her life interpreted this way rather than the usual rather sexualised and misogynistic view of her that has been presented over the years.  The film also showcases the politics of religion that the disciples fell in to quite well.

The film tries to follow Mary’s experience so skips over some key events in the lead up to the crucifixion – Pontius Pilate doesn’t appear, Peter (or is it Paul?) doesn’t deny Jesus, we don’t see any conversions happening on the crosses and the 40 days in the wilderness is only vaguely alluded to, but as my knowledge of the story is primarily based on King of Kings, Ben Hur and the previously mentioned Children’s Bible, I can’t attest as to the accuracy of any of this.  Plenty of things do make it in – Judas, the thieves in the temple, for example.

The film’s beauty has stayed with me, and it was seasonally appropriate as well.  My only criticism would be that Mary had rather lovely pale skin for someone who lived a rough subsistence life in Judea at that time….Otherwise, recommended as an interesting take on a well-known story.

***1/2

Cecil says: Bea is right of course about Rooney Mara’s pale skin being rather unlikely in the harsh glare of constant sun and an outdoor life, as she would have had both before her time as the 13th apostle and even in the more sheltered home life before.

Having said that, there was something captivating about her face. We are briefly in the position of the sick or disabled to whom Mary comes to relieve of suffering and it did remind me of my own hospital visit 20 odd years ago when I woke from general anaesthetic to find the face of a nurse right next to my face, saying something like ‘hello’. That felt powerful enough, so it is easy to imagine the immensity of someone like Mary suddenly appearing in your life when you are someone society has given up on; I can imagine many a conversion happened on the back of that.

The producers of Mary Magdalene the film chose their set well. It wasn’t filmed anywhere near Jerusalem, but having been there and to Jordan and the Occupied Territories, I can attest to the fact that it did bring back memories of my momentous few weeks there over 30 years ago now (funnily enough, linking back to the nurse and surgery experience, since I injured my back trying to do a breaststroke kick in the salty Dead Sea, and that started the whole journey, which I feel I am still on today, really).

I don’t know the Biblical tales as well as Bea, but I did think Judas comes across as rather a sympathetic character in this film. A zealot, maybe, but if he was the one who betrayed Jesus, there was no sign in this film of payment to Judas, and we are left with the impression that he acted because he felt this might precipitate society’s move towards the Promised Land.

Mary Magdalene is certainly slow paced, but as Bea says, this felt right for the time and place it was depicting.

***