Film Review - Mary Magdalene (12A)

Mary, you are my witness.

It's tough for me to approach any 'Jesus' movie purely on its merits as a piece of cinema. Having been raised within Northern Ireland's evangelical community, any retelling of the life of Christ resonates with me in a very particular way. Mary Magdalene is too restrained and cerebral to attract a mass audience - the screening I attended was as empty as the Tomb on Easter Sunday morning - but it fascinated me on a personal level from the opening scene, which possibly skews my perception. 

This is very much Mary Magdalene's story, and a version which sets out to redeem her reputation from that of penitent prostitute (as suggested by everyone from Pope Gregory to Rice and Lloyd-Webber). Drawing on both the New Testament and gnostic gospels, and weaving in some imagination of its own, the movie presents Mary as a young woman sensitive to the point of oddness. She is a fisher and a midwife, and also a quiet rebel against the conventional life her family have planned for her. Misunderstood by those around her, it makes sense that she should be drawn to the teachings of a fellow rebel against the norm - a Nazarene preacher-healer, who travels with a group of exclusively male friends. But while Jesus welcomes her into the group, his Disciples are less than enthused by this potentially divisive influence.

Initially this film by Garth Davis (director of Lion) doesn't seem as confrontational as Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ. Nor does it have the visceral punch of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. But by its closing scenes it has proved powerful and subversive in its own right. Rooney Mara's Mary is at the heart of this. As the 'Magdalene' she radiates a quiet depth and intensity that steals scene after scene, even from Joaquin Phoenix's Jesus. It's a sustained exercise in empathy - for everyone from a terrified girl in labour to the Christ himself - one that I found totally compelling.

The scenes between Mary and Jesus are particularly well-judged; Mary comes without any of the male Disciples' agendas and the sense of honesty and friendship is palpable, nor does the film blunder too far down the 'I Don't Know How To Love Him' route. More tricky is Phoenix's playing of Christ's public ministry. It's a very internalised performance - rather too mumbly to explain this man's power over the multitude. One-to-one we see a sensitivity and spirituality at odds with the more blustering expressions of masculinity surrounding him. But he doesn't quite have the charisma here to carry off a memorable Sermon on any Mount.

Much about this movie is restrained, including the stark quality of the cinematography; first-century Palestine looks a cold and bleak kind of beautiful, the effect enhanced by a score that is utterly, hauntingly gorgeous. It all serves to give this retelling of Christ's ministry its own distinctive feel. The film does much in fact to subvert the cliches of traditional Biblical epics, not least in its expansion of Jesus' philosophy from the canonical Gospels (not likely to impress in conservative religious circles). Its presentations of Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Judas Iscariot (Tahar Rahim) also prove surprising.

More than anything, however, this film keeps Mary and her convention-defying friendship with Jesus at its centre, allowing all else, miracles included, to take second billing. It leads to a denouement that for all my past Bible-reading took me by surprise - and sent tremors down two thousand years of church history. For that alone Mary Magdalene deserves to be watched.

Gut Reaction: Mesmerised throughout, despite the lack of cinematic fireworks. 

Where Are the Women?: There's something about Mary - at least when Rooney Mara is playing her. And the screenplay's writers (Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett) create a proudly feminist Gospel.

Ed's Verdict: 7/10. I'm tempted to give it more as it struck such a personal chord, but I'm holding back since it's perhaps just too low-key. Still, it's beautifully made, Mara is an understated sensation and the ending delivers an unexpected punch all its own.