Brand New Testament (The)
Original Title
Le tout nouveau testament- Director: Jaco Van Dormael
- Writer: Thomas Gunzig; Jaco Van Dormael
- Producer: Jean-Yves Asselin
CGiii Comment
God is a beastly, beer-guzzling Belgian...!
So, dear hearts...suspend your disbelief...and, immmerse yourselves into the cynical imagination of an acute absurdist. For it may (or, may not) warm the cockles of your hardened-hearts. We were - well & truly - warmed!
With such a beastly God...this is not for the bible-bashers...here, religious ridicule is the rule of thumb. For the time has come to serve those fumbling fundametalists...a flamboyant whiplash. No prisoners are taken.
But, however, furthermore and moreover...if you are easily offended by approaching (such) topics as bestiality, trans*identity, child abuse and domestic abuse...with a humorous bent...then, this is - quite possibly - not the film for you either.
It asks a simple question: What would you do if you knew the exact time when you will die?
Think: Being John Malkovitch meets Truman meets Amelie and they all fall through the looking glass...with a bit of metaphysics thrown in for good measure.
There are moments of sheer joy, sour disbelief...and, a multitude of scathing attacks on an institution shamelessly proud of its revered hypocrisy...it really is rather satisfying watching god sample a taste of his own malpractice.
This is a celebration of pro-this and anti-that...it grandstands tolerance, acceptance and the consequences of your own actions.
It will offend many (good), please many (better)...and, it will leave you asking: What would I do if I knew the exact moment...I die?
And, therein, lies the sadness...it seems that we would all change something, anything, everything.
What a realisation! What a revelation...such is this film!
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
God lives in human form as a cynical writer with his young opinionated daughter in present-day Brussels, Belgium. She concludes that her dad is doing a terrible job and decides to rewrite the world, which leaves God angry, powerless and adamant to get his power back.
Cast & Characters
Pili Groyne as Ea;
Benoit Poelvoorde as Dieu;
Catherine Deneuve as Martine;
Francois Damiens as Francois;
Yolande Moreau as La femme de Dieu;
Laura Verlinden as Aurelie;
Serge Lariviere as Marc;
Didier De Neck as Jean-Claude;
Marco Lorenzini as Victor;
Romain Gelin as Willy;
Anna Tenta as Xenia, l'Allemande;
Johan Heldenbergh as Le pretre;
David Murgia as Jesus Christ;
Gaspard Pauwels as Kevin;
Bilal Aya as Philippe