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Il vangelo secondo Matteo [The Gospel According to Matthew] (Pier Paolo Pasolini, 1964)

Jun

22

National Kissing Day

Il vangelo secondo Matteo (1964)

Judas (Otello Sestili) kisses Jesus (Enrique Irazoqui) in intimate closeup. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.

A [favourite] movie kiss for National Kissing Day (USA*), not to be confused with International Kissing Day aka World Kiss Day which falls on July 6.

“I don’t have the inhibitions that a practicing Catholic would in that I’m not paralysed by the sacredness of the text, nor do I have the inhibitions of a lapsed Catholic who would view approaching the story of Jesus as compromising his Marxist beliefs, of sinking back into conformity.”

– PPP, via

An neorealist, straightforward adaptation of the Gospel of Matthew, populated by non-actors (“Jesus” is a 19-year Catalan trade unionist picked for his resemblance to El Greco's Christ), intellectuals, and anachronistic characters based on biblical art through the ages.

 

According to said Gospel, apostle Judas kissed prophet Jesus to signal to the police who of the 13 men present was the one to arrest.

 

Interestingly, the word Matthew chose to describe the kiss is καταφιλέω, the same word used by philosopher Plutarch to describe the kiss between Alexander the Great and his eunuch Bagoas

 

* no one wants to kiss you anymore, America

El verdugo [The Executioner] (Luis García Berlanga, 1963)

Jan

31

stale bread

El verdugo (1963)

A closeup of man's hands crumbling bread over a small bowl placed next to a newspaper with keys on top of it. The man has a wool blanket over his shoulders. DP: Tonino Delli Colli.

“Father, we just ate!”