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Scouting in Palestine
In 1963, accompanied by a newsreel photographer and a Catholic priest, Piero Paolo Pasolini traveled to Palestine to investigate the possibility of filming his biblical epic The Gospel According to Matthew in its approximate historical locations. Edited by The Gospel‘s producer for potential funders and distributors, Seeking Locations in Palestine features semi-improvised commentary from Pasolini as its only soundtrack. As we travel from village to village, we listen to Pasolini’s idiosyncratic musings on the teachings of Christ and witness his increasing disappointment with the people and landscapes he sees before him. Israel, he laments, is much too modern. The Palestinians, much too wretched; it would be impossible to believe the teachings of Jesus had reached these faces. The Gospel According to Matthew was ultimately filmed in Southern Italy. Mel Gibson would use some of the same locations forty years later for The Passion of the Christ.
| Release : | 1965 |
| Rating : | 7.1 |
| Studio : | Arco Film, |
| Crew : | Director of Photography, Director of Photography, |
| Cast : | Pier Paolo Pasolini |
| Genre : | Documentary |
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Reviews
Awesome Movie
It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Today with the "making of" documentaries that have been regularly featured on laserdiscs and now DVDs, we are used to learning something about the locations used on various movies.What is unusual about "Hunting For Locations In Palestine," as it is informally known, is we get an explanation from the director of "The Gospel According To Saint Matthew," as to why he decided NOT to shoot in Israel. Pasolini's travelogue also functions on another level of interest as a document of what Israel looked like in the summer of 1963, 4 years before the momentous 1967 war- at least the parts that he visited. He is accompanied by a liberal Italian Catholic priest, Don Andrea. Though Pasolini was a very learned man, there are questions he has about biblical history and theology, which the reverend is there to answer. The director notices right away that though Israel features a humble, barren terrain, disappointing in a way when one thinks of the spectacular events of the Gospels, it has been "contaminated by modernity" (I use Sam Rohdie's translation.) There are kibbutzim, apartment buildings, industry. The faces of the common folk as well are not what he was looking for. (Though at several points when he describes the Muslim Arabs as looking "like animals," there was understandably an audible reaction of displeasure from the Berkeley audience where I saw this, as part of a PFA Pasolini series.) The director landed up recreating his biblical era in parts of Southern Italy, that were still quite rural and simple, the following spring and summer.
