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 13th 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
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.
***
