Review No.147: The Gospel of Us

In my other job, as a TV reviewer, I've recently been covering a certain reality show looking for a new actor to play Jesus in a well-known rock musical so you'd think I'd have my fill of bible stories but then The Gospel of Us rocked up in a LoveFilm envelope so I decided to give it a watch. The film is essentially Dave McKean's video account of a play depicting the Passion which was staged in different areas around Port Talbot and stars Michael Sheen as Jesus substitute 'The Teacher'. We first see 'The Teacher' when is dunked under water by 'The Stranger', an analogy to John's baptising of Jesus, before gaining public approval when he listens to the story of a woman who has a bomb strapped to her and is threatening to blow the town up. As The Teacher's following rises he is challenged by 'The Company' who wish to knock down several homes in the area and replace them with a new motorway something he isn't too happy about so tells his followers to do something about it. 'The Company' plots to do something about 'The Teacher' while he and his new followers have their equivalent of The Last Supper which was sharing dodgy sandwiches at a Working Men's Club while The Manic Street Preachers played their greatest hit sets then Paul Potts crooned through an opera classic. Eventually we learn that there's more to 'The Teacher' than we thought namely that he has a past that he's forgotten about including a young daughter and an estranged wife though he denies these allegations but instead is but to trial by 'The Company.' As is protocol 'The Teacher' is found to be guilty and we then have a version of The Crucifixion only this time the crown is made of barbed wire while it is a bunch of workmen who carry out the task of erecting the cross. In what for me was possibly the most interesting part of the film the last five or so minutes is concerned with filling in the gaps between 'The Teacher's' past life and the start of the film which is filmed differently to the rest of the film to represent memories long gone.

Personally I think I would've enjoyed The Gospel of Us more if I'd actually been present to see the play as the majority of this film was like watching a cheap recording of a school show rather than a powerful religious parable. The only differences between watching the film and the play are mainly that you don't have to wrap up warm, as the conditions looked pretty cold, and you don't have to walk around other than that there is only the aforementioned final scene plus one in which 'The Teacher' tells the cameraman to follow him rather than just watch. What The Gospel of Us does have going for it is the brilliance of Michael Sheen who is utterly captivating from beginning to end and a great choice to play the Christ figure as he can say so much with just one look than a lot of people can after reciting mountains of dialogue. It is through his steady realisation that he isn't as pure as he thinks he is that Sheen really gets to flex his acting muscles and the final scenes in which he is crucified are definitely the most powerful in the film. I did like the modernisation of some of the familiar parts of the story, such as The Working Men's Club and the building site, however at times I felt that McKean's film was just a little too smug for it's own good. The majority of the scenes were a least a little overlong and for me the first half an hour or so was incredibly boring as it took a long time to introduce the central concept before we actually set off with Sheen and company. I have to say as a whole The Gospel of Us really didn't do much for me as a film though I did enjoy some parts of it, especially Sheen, it's a story that we've seen done better a number of times and the beaches of Port Talbot don't do anything to change that.

Verdict: A well-filmed Passion Play with a great central performance from Sheen however long scenes of dull action plus a sense that I was seeing this second hand means that I can only give it a score of 6/10