In this day and age with significant amounts of people turning away from organised religion and, if the latest census data is to be believed, ’no religious affiliation’ being both the largest and fastest growing demographic in Australia, it seems like a very risky venture to make another biblical tale. Yet after his success with 2016’s Lion, Australian filmmaker Garth Davis has bravely taken up the challenge with Mary Magdalene. Working off a script by British writing duo Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett, this is a unique take on the last months of the life of Christ which will probably prove quite divisive for both believers and non-believers alike.
Judea, 33CE. In a tiny fishing village Mary (Rooney Mara) works and lives within the confines of her small Orthodox jewish family. Life is difficult in these parts. Work is physical, food is scarce and the rule of Roman law seems to loom over everyone’s life. Yet there are whispers of a man travelling around Judea, whose followers are wholly dedicated to him and whose preachings about social justice and theology are revolutionary. He soon arrives in Mary’s village and this softly spoken prophet (Joaquin Phoenix) is enough to convince her to leave her home to join him and the twelve disciples that follow him.
In this age of Times Up and #MeToo the desire to tell women’s stories has never been greater. Davis’ film would be one of the most interesting takes on this. Not only is it a feminist take on the Gospels but it reinstates Magdalene’s place in history. A prostitute she was most definitely not; this notion was a post-facto myth that Pope Gregory I created in the 5th century, one of the many examples of blatant misogyny that is scattered around the history of the church.
Mara and Pheonix make for an interesting pair. Joaquin Phoenix always brings a strange intensity to his performances and casting him was a bold and, as it turns out, quite an intelligent choice. Mara’s face is perfect for the camera, as it drinks in all the little details of her performance which is a very good thing because she spends most of her time staring just off centre of the camera. In fact this is what most characters do – at least a third of the running time is a character staring at something, which does begin to test patience in a 120 minute film. Tahar Rahim is the person who comes out best, in the kind of revisionism that characterises the film there’s a surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of Judas.
Cinematography by Australian Greig Fraser is the true star. The shoot took place in Sicily and the rolling mountains and the sere grasslands are captured beautifully. The music by Hildur Guðnadóttir and Jóhann Jóhannsson (the last score he wrote before his untimely death in February) is excellent too.
Those who are religious seem to be the target audience. There’s no doubt that it portrays Jesus as the son of God. This isn’t like other religious films that put a question mark next to his divinity; he really does have healing powers and raises people from the dead. It seems like a miscalculation, especially when the message at the end is as simplistic as ‘the power was in us all along!’
It begs the question: did we really need a revisionist, feminist and arthouse take on Christ’s last weeks? Not really. If the aim of the filmmakers was to reinstate Mary Magdalene to her rightful place in this ancient story then they succeeded, but this seems to be something that only the faithful will get much out of. After all, separating the truth from the fiction seems a little superfluous in a story that includes snakes talking, dead men walking and virgins bearing children.
If nothing else, this is a fascinating and original take on a story that has been continuously told for over two thousand years. There’s undeniable accomplishment in that.
Mary Magdalene is in cinemas from 22nd March through Transmission Films.
