La Vie de Jesus [Criterion Collection]

Director: Bruno Dumont Bruno Dumont

Overview

The angst suffered by low-income adolescents living in a tiny country town where fun comes from marching in the town band and holding Sunday afternoon contests to see whose pet finch can chirp the loudest provides the basis for this raw, slow-paced drama. Freddy is almost 20 but still lives with his mother, who runs a local cafe. The brightest spot in the lad's life is his sexual relationship with Marie, a cashier. When not trysting with her, he rides about with his mates on motor scooters. As Freddy occasionally suffers from paralyzing bouts of epilepsy, this is a risky thing to do. He does go in for treatment, but he doesn't like it. Trouble comes when the son of a recently-arrived Arab family sets his sights on the possessive Freddy's girl Marie.

Product Details

Release Date:	06/18/2019
UPC:	0715515231510
Original Release:	1997
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:36:00
Sales rank:	52,563

Special Features

New interview with Dumont; Conversation between dumont and critic Philippe Rouyer from 2014; Excerpts from two 1997 episodes of the French television program Le cercle de minuit; Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sebastien Bailleul	Quinquin
Samuel Boidin	Michou
Kader Chaatouf	Kader,Kader's Mother,Kader's Father
Genevieve Cottreel	Yvette,Marie
Sebastien Delbaere	Gege
David Douche	Freddy
Steve Smagghe	Robert
Rene Gilleron	Rene
Daniel Tanchon	Gege's Father
Sophie Ruckebusch	Majorette
Jean-Claude Lefebvre	Inspector
Gerard Wallyn	Majorette's Father
Jean-Benoit Gros	Pierrot
Suzanne Bertelot	Nurse
Melinda Deseure	Majorettes' Leader
Jean-Paul Potteuw	Harmonies' Leader
L'Harmonie de Bailleul	Themselves
Bernard Fillebeen	Michou's Father
Francis Desure	Policeman with Freddy
Alain Lenancker	Policeman with Freddy
Helene Blaevoet	Marie's Colleague
Marie-Josee van Overbeke	Quinquin's Mother
Nadir Ghilmoinou	Kader's Friend
Sebastian Bailleul	Actor
Richard Cuvillier	Composer

Technical Credits

Bruno Dumont

Rachid Bouchareb	Producer
Bruno Dumont	Director,Screenwriter
Jean Bréhat	Producer,Executive Producer
Thierry Sabatier	Sound/Sound Designer
Eric Rophe	Sound/Sound Designer
Matthieu Imbert	Sound/Sound Designer
Pierre Choukroun	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- La Vie de Jésus (Criterion Collection)
1. Freddie And Marie [5:22]
2. Cloclo [4:26]
3. Leo The Finch [4:07]
4. "Time For Your Egg" [1:17]
5. Freddy And Marie On The Chairlift [3:44]
6. November 11 Marching Band [2:58]
7. Racism In The Café [3:52]
8. "Fucking French Sons Of Bitches!" [3:34]
9. Game Of Chicken [6:40]
10. "Where's Marie?" [5:40]
11. "I'm In Mourning" [4:10]
12. A Follower [2:11]
13. "I Didn't Do Anything, Freddy" [2:49]
14. A Trip To The Beach, In Memoriam [4:38]
15. "You Can't Stay On The Dole Forever" [5:25]
16. Lazy Afternoon [5:30]
17. An Incident At Band Practice [2:24]
18. Repercussions [5:33]
19. "Is This What You Want?" [3:59]
20. Morning At The Café [4:31]
21. "I Don't Have A Boyfriend" [2:31]
22. "Freddy, He's Had Enough" [2:33]
23. Arrest [5:25]
24. End Credits [3:00]

Menu

Disc #1 -- La Vie de Jésus (Criterion Collection)
   Play The Movie
   Chapters
   Supplements
      Bruno Dumont: In This Interview Shot By The Criterion Collection In 2019, Director Bruno Dumont Discusses His First Film, La Vie De Jésus.
      Le Cercle De Minuit
      Philippe Rouyer: In This Interview From 2014, Director Bruno Dumont Discusses La Vie De Jésus With Film Critic Philippe Rouyer.
      Trailer
   Subtitles
      Subtitles: On
      Subtitles: Off

Editorial Reviews

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of La Vie de Jésus is the way director Bruno Dumont captures the restlessness of small town life for a group of unemployed teenage boys. Trapped in a tiny, rural French town with little to do, Freddy (David Douche) and his buddies cruise around on their scooters, harass a local Arab immigrant, Kader (Kader Chaatouf), and play snare drums in an incredibly sad marching band. There is some great black humor in this film, but it may fly over the heads of some audiences. Freddy is at least lucky that he has a girlfriend, Marie (Marjorie Cottreel), whom he gets it on with in one particularly graphic scene in a wheat field. (Dumont is partial to sex scenes that are not at all sexy.) Freddy's buddies can only wish that they had girlfriends, as does Kader, who harasses Marie until she eventually responds. The ending is explosive. Though certainly not a big hit, La Vie de Jésus is a quiet masterpiece and even more effective than Dumont's second, more highly celebrated film, L'humanite.

All Movie Guide - Adam Bregman