The King

D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille, George Stevens, Martin Scorsese, Norman Jewison, Mel Gibson, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Ciprì & Maresco: from the very first days of feature films, many willful directors have made their versions of the Passion of Christ. The Sardinian filmmaker Giovanni Columbu succeeds in adding a special chapter with his second film, Su Re (‘The King’). He takes his inspiration from the way in which the four Gospels provide different angles on the story, just as Kurosawa Akira did with Rashomon. While he is respectful toward the sources, in this way Columbu manages to give many characters unexpected depths. Just as painters for a long time used local landscapes as a backdrop when tackling biblical scenes, Columbu chose the dramatic landscape of his own birthplace. The Jesus figure is different from many films or paintings: he’s not a beautiful man, but was chosen to match the Biblical description that he was ‘the most unworthy among men’. The other roles, from the Apostles and Mary to the Scribes and the Roman soldiers, were played by local Sardinian amateur actors who wore their own scruffy clothing (augmented with robes designed for the occasion). Their weather-beaten faces provide a mood that is both authentic and contemporary, while being timeless and topical.