Review #20 LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT (2015, Rodrigo García)

 

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For 40 days and nights, Jesus Christ, son of God, walks the desert, gathering insights into humanity and Himself.

Starring  Ewan McGregor, Tye Sheridan, Ciarán Hinds, Ayelet Zurer

Written by  Rodrigo García   

Produced by  Bonnie Curtis, Julie Lynn, Wicks Walker   

Duration  98 minutes   

   

 

Ewan McGregor as Jesus Christ? Really? Wait ... and Satan? Blimey. Who does he think he is, Jim Carrey in Robert Zemeckis' version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL? Peter Sellers in DR STRANGELOVE? Did he want to stretch himself beyond merely nailing a spot-on Alec Guinness impression for Obi-Wan Kenobi to emulating Guinness’s multi-role antics in KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS?

Or did the makers of LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT hire McGregor because he’s done duel roles before: in THE ISLAND, where he plays both a clone and the cloned? Then again, that would entail somebody actually remembering THE ISLAND ...

I really couldn’t picture the Scottish actor as Jesus going in. For me, it tallied with other notoriously leftfield casting choices, like Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes, or Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher, or Kevin Costner as Robin Hood. But hey, those worked out, mostly – maybe not Costner, but still, he manages to not detract from the reliable Sunday-afternoon-TV enjoyment PRINCE OF THIEVES delivers. 

Now, Satan, Ewan for that I understood right away. He's had a calculating malevolence in his eyes ever since playing the supercilious Mark Renton in TRAINSPOTTING. In fact, as far back as cocky journalist Alex from SHALLOW GRAVE.

On the subject of TRAINSPOTTING: in all this time, have we been supposed to be pronouncing Ewen Bremner’s Christian name differently? Did the pair have a laugh about it when they re-teemed on the set of BLACK HAWK DOWN, possibly pulling their fellow Brits among the cast into the joke, like Tom Hardy, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Dancy, Ian Gruffudd, Matthew Marsden and Jason Issac? (Fuck, there were a lot of people in that movie.)

Anyway, on LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT, Ewan with an ‘A’ plays the ultimate ‘Christian name’, with the emphasis firmly on the human part of the Holy Trinity.

The first thing the viewer notices from the outset is the movie looks terrific. Somehow, the great Emmanuel Lubezki is the DP on this obscure project (he’s mates with the writer/director, Rodrigo Garcia). The go-to lensman for the likes of Alfonso Cuarón, Alejandro Iñárritu and Terrence Malick, and winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography three years in a row between 2013 and 2015, the Mexican is a dab hand with natural lighting and he certainly has plenty to play with here, what with the whole thing taking place outdoors and all.

The definitive ‘humanised Jesus’ movie is, of course, Martin Scorsese’s THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. Whilst that was about the son of God's final days (flash-forwarded to briefly here), this one instead takes a non-scripture-compliant look at some of his 40 days and nights in the desert, as recalled in the book of Matthew. The opening line from our man (of God) here is ‘Father, where are you?’ – putting us also in the is-He-really-listening? territory of Scorsese’s more recent theological epic, SILENCE.

And Ewan is fine. He’s sincere. Not much is said; not much needs to be said, not when you’re dealing with issues as weighty, significant and culturally familiar as does LAST DAYS IN THE DESERT. His Jesus is recognisably human, riddled with doubt, curiosity and not without range – in one scene, where he struggles to turn a blanket into windbreaker against the elements, he runs a gamut from determined to frustrated to amused to exasperated.

When Ewan-as-the-devil turns up to push Jesus’s buttons, I was pleased that they didn't go for anything trite like dressing him in black or any even less subtle interpretation (red skin, horns, pointy stick). Instead, McGregor does it all in the performance like a proper actor, as if this were a stage play – which, taking away the Lubezki visuals, it could well have been. When playing ol’ Lucifer, he switches from Alec Guinness-esque posh English back to his natural Scots brogue – just like he did as the nastier character back in THE ISLAND. (See, someone remembers it.)

Tye Sheridan is also among the sand dunes, having found a religious bonus level in READY PLAYER ONE. Ciaran Hinds is there too, as his Dad, with beard and walking staff. Jesus grapples with their human conflicts, and in doing so gets more perspective on his own father-son tensions.

Look, it’s a film about a man with Daddy issues trying to resolve them by wandering around a barren landscape, occasionally coming across others and accompanied by an evil doppelganger. It’s not confrontational like THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and it’s not touched by genius like the works of Scorsese, lensmanship notwithstanding. It doesn’t on the surface have much in terms of drama, incident or narrative. 

But it’s designed to be a spiritual experience first and foremost, and so, the only question really is, does it work on those terms? I can only answer yes; yes, I would say that it does.

Three stars out of five.

Valid use of the word ‘last’?  Jesus has certainly been in the desert for a while when we join him, but there’s no action movie-style countdown, and at the end he doesn’t explicitly return to civilisation, so there may still be more days of sand in his sandals and finding a rock for a pillow to come.

What would a movie called FIRST DAYS IN THE DESERT be about?  That early, optimistic period. Still feeling that last home-cooked meal, enjoying the fresh air, not yet attacked by any snakes or suffering back ache from sleeping on the bare ground.

Previously:  LAST MAN STANDING

Next time:  THE LAST DESCENT   

Check out my books:  Jonathanlastauthor.com