The story of Jesus Christ, his life, times and dying for the sins of the whole of humanity is hardly a new and unfamiliar one. We know it from the gospels in the Bible, from other works of literature, as well as from the movies. With the latter, however, the story has been told from different points of view, yet nobody had yet bothered to tell it from the side of Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed his teacher and messiah.

That was until Giulio Base, renaissance man, doctor of literature, philosophy and theology, actor and filmmaker with tens of credits to his name,  decided to do just that. His second film this year, Judas’ Gospel [+lee también:
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Base opens the film with the passion of Christ (Vincenzo Galluzzo), but swiftly shifts his focus to another man who also died that day, Christ’s follower and traitor, Judas (voiced by Giancarlo Giannini), who hanged himself as an act of solidarity and redemption for his deeds. Assuming the role of the narrator, Judas goes back to tell the story from his own point of view.

He, the half-brother of Mary Magdalene, was born in a brothel to a prostitute mother and an unknown father. His first “crime” was his birth, since both his mother and his twin did not survive it. As a boy, he killed the brothel owner who abused him and his sidekick and took over the business of trading people’s bodies. He became a wealthy, unscrupulous man, until his half-sister fell for the teachings of the new prophet. He, too, got interested in them, to the point that he renounced his life and wealth.

However, after that promising first third of the movie, depicting an atmosphere of decadence and debauchery and done with some cheek and sleaze, the story falls back into the tracks of what we already know from cultural history. Although it is now completely told from Judas’ perspective (quite literally so, as his is the only speaking part in the film), viewers will have few new insights into the well known tale. Paradoxically, there is not enough of Judas and his personality in Judas’ Gospel.

Although international stars such as Rupert Everett (playing the role of the priest Caiaphas), Paz Vega (as Mary), John Savage (Joseph) or filmmaker Abel Ferrara (who plays Herod) successfully overcome the challenge of limited means of expression, Base’s approach fails on the whole, revealing itself to be just a schlocky trick. The same goes for the decision never to reveal Judas’ face (always shot from the back, it might as well be the filmmaker himself), and the opposition between our hero and the rest of the characters feels artificially constructed.

As the story and its telling wear off following an encouraging beginning, so does the filmmaking style. The slick camerawork by Giuseppe Riccobene goes into a chaotic hand-held mode, while the music by Checco Pallone moves from a “blasphemous”, hard and heavy sound on the opening credits to stereotypical-sounding ethno music, the generic kind usually employed to suggest a Middle Eastern setting. On the other hand, Judas’ Gospel can find some saving grace in its rich references to works of literature, philosophy, theology and art, woven both into the narrative and the visual fabric of the movie, and in the tight editing by Natascia Di Vitto, which makes it watchable and intriguing. In the end, Judas' Gospel might not be an essential watch, but it showcases both the ambition and the shortcomings of Giulio Base’s approach to an intriguing topic.

Judas’ Gospel is an Italian/Polish co-production between the companies Agnus Dei Production, Rai Cinema, Agresywna Banda and Minerva Pictures. The latter also handles the film's international sales.