La vie de Jésus
With his stunning debut feature, the risk-taking auteur Bruno Dumont immediately established his reputation as an uncompromising iconoclast on the cutting edge of French cinema. Blending unflinching realism with moments of startling, light-filled beauty, La vie de Jésus finds unexpected philosophical richness in the quotidian, small-town existence of Freddy (nonprofessional David Douche in a revelatory, one-off performance), an aimless young man with epilepsy who, in his childlike simplicity, embodies both great tenderness and terrifying brutality. Leaving the film’s cryptic title tantalizingly open to interpretation, Dumont dares viewers to see the divine in a seemingly dead-end world.
Director-Approved Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Bruno Dumont, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- 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
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Nicholas Elliott
New cover by Vivienne Flesher
Director-Approved Special Edition Features
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Bruno Dumont, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- 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
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Nicholas Elliott
New cover by Vivienne Flesher
Cast
- David Douche
- Freddy
- Marjorie Cottreel
- Marie
- Geneviève Cottreel
- Yvette
- Kader Chaatouf
- Kader
- Sébastien Delbaere
- Gégé
- Sébastien Bailleul
- Quinquin
- Samuel Boidin
- Michou
- Steve Smagghe
- Robert
Credits
- Director
- Bruno Dumont
- Written by
- Bruno Dumont
- Executive producer
- Jean Bréhat
- Executive producer
- Rachid Bouchareb
- Produced by
- Muriel Merlin
- Photographed by
- Philippe Van Leeuw
- Sound by
- Éric Rophé
- Sound by
- Matthieu Imbert
- Sound by
- Olivier De Nesle
- Art direction by
- Frédérique Suchet
- Music by
- Richard Cuvillier
- Makeup by
- Férouz Zaafour
- Editing by
- Guy Lecorne
- Editing by
- Yves Deschamps
- Sound editing by
- Pierre Choukroun
- Sound mix by
- Thierry Sabatier
A scene from La vie de Jésus
