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In the late 1990s a French production company invited several directors to make a short feature about the last day of the millennium; Hal Hartley (the only American to be asked) created a film about Jesus Christ descending to earth to unleash a series of plagues that will end humanity. He is accompanied on this journey by Mary Magdalene (played by English rock icon PJ Harvey) and is forced to face the devil (Thomas Jay Ryan) who has also arrived in New York seeking a showdown with his nemesis. As Jesus retrieves the book (which, in a clever update, is a notebook computer) the devil sits in a bar discussing the merits of humanity with a barmaid and a compulsive gambler. Hartley utilises an array of video and digital techniques, blurring the visuals, speeding them up, slowing them down which creates an effective sense of disorientation and doom. Hartley mainstay Martin Donovan is typically diffident in the role of Jesus.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
319213
Languages
English
English
Audience classification
M (15+)
Subject categories
Advertising, Film, Journalism, Mass Media & TV → Digital cinematography
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → New York (N.Y.)
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Devil
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Faith
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Jesus Christ
Experimental → Experimental films - United States
Feature films → Feature films - France
Feature films → Feature films - United States
History → Millennium celebrations (Year 2000)
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
DVD; Access Print (Section 1)