The Book of Life (1998)
Runtime: 63 mins
Synopsis: Hal Hartley's deliciously droll comedy about the coming of the apocalypse stars Martin Donovan (HENRY FOOL) as Jesus Christ, who is sent back to Earth to set the end of the world in motion on December 31, 1999. However, upon arriving on Earth, Jesus, along with his assistant Magdalena... Hal Hartley's deliciously droll comedy about the coming of the apocalypse stars Martin Donovan (HENRY FOOL) as Jesus Christ, who is sent back to Earth to set the end of the world in motion on December 31, 1999. However, upon arriving on Earth, Jesus, along with his assistant Magdalena (Harvey), is quickly filled with doubt about destroying the human race. Meanwhile, Satan (Ryan) drowns himself in his sorrows in a seedy NYC bar as he grumbles about the apocalypse. Hartley shot the film entirely with a hand-held digital camera, and blew the resulting image up to 35mm, imbuing the film with a strange otherworldly look. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Martin Donovan, P.J. Harvey, Thomas Jay Ryan, Miho Nikaido, Dave Simonds
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Reviews
Anything touched by PJ Harvey is bound to be worth the trouble; even better, Hartley has made one of his better, least grating films.
Jesus-who’s-come-again asks Himself soul-searching questions in what might’ve been called The Lack of Passion of the Christ.
Hartley always underplays things, even when the world’s about to end.


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