Saturday, May 15, 2004

Gospel According to God

On the Biblical Studies e-list, Cynthia Edenburg mentions a new film directed by Assi Dayan called The Gospel According to God apparently released this week in Israel. There's nothing on IMDb about it, so I've had a look around elsewhere. The only material I can find is on Haaretz.com this last Thursday:

A director plays God
By Goel Pinto
The movie is set in the middle of 2001. God, played by Dayan, and his son Jesus (Gil Kopatch), are sitting idle in heaven. In Dayan's view, heaven looks like a piece of Tel Avivian rooftop, just without the solar panels and water tanks. God, wearing a tattered robe that exposes a large cross, sits sloppily in front of a television set on which Vered David (Channel 1 news announcer) is shown reporting a war, alternately with Yaron Pe'er (from the shopping channel) tempting viewers to buy house slippers.

An emissary (Zion Baruch, a member of the Ma Kashur trio) appears on the roof and hands God a letter reminding him that on January 1, 2002 he has to send his son to Earth in order to redeem mankind.

To this end four characters come to Jesus' aid: Luke (Roberto Pollack) teaches him about his personal history and explains where and how the renewed redemption will take place; Torquemada (Golan Azulai), a homosexual who headed the Spanish Inquisition, teaches Jesus how to withstand suffering; Joan of Arc (Dana Parnas) teaches him love; and Mother Theresa (Erica Knoller) teaches him how to speak in front of a crowd.

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