Last Days in the Desert

Last Days in the Desert-720P

Last Days in the Desert-480P

Last Days in the Desert-360P

source: Last Days in the Desert

I liked this movie. I liked the atmosphere, the soundtrack, the calm voice of Ewan. I also liked the idea of depicting the devil as double of Yeshua. I think the conversation that implies that God likes new outcomes that derive from little changes is essential. The "entanglement" of the three family members illustrates this. Yeshua tries to solve the 'social riddle' with words and compassion, not with godlike powers. But the outcome is unforeseeable, even for him. The movie should have ended after the scenario in the desert. I really wondered why Rodrigo García added the crucifixion scene with the hummingbird. Didn't he know that hummingbirds live only in America? A dragonfly would have had the same effect. But OK, it's the devil, he can do that ... winking smiley.

A slow burning affair that will have many reaching for the off button or catching a quick nap during proceedings, Rodrigo Garcia visually striking and occasionally touching interpretation of Jesus's time of 40 days and 40 nights of fasting isn't a film for everyone but considering the other faith based films that have come our way over recent times, The Last Days in the Desert is a cut above other similar fair. Joining Jesus's last portion of his experience as he travels back towards Jerusalem through the solemn desert, tempted as he goes, only for him to find a place of resting and meaning with Ciaran Hind's poor farming family consisting of a sick wife and depressed son, whose played rather disappointingly by Tye Sheridan. With this, Garcia is less concerned with focusing on Jesus's more solitary trip, rather the "what if" scenario of his dealings with such a family and the moral choices he makes within his time with them, as he too continues to ponder his important future that lay at the end of his trip. Played surprisingly by Ewan McGregor, who makes little to no effort at hiding his far from suitable linage in concerns to playing the Middle Eastern messiah but makes it work by the films later stages, we do get a great sense of feeling at the enormity of Jesus's path that he must follow and even though we get no glimpses of miracles or out of the ordinary occurrences, the story humanises Jesus's to the point that he feels like an ordinary man, set forth on an extraordinary journey and it's a nice point of difference from other such films that would prefer to focus on the miraculous, over the everyday. It would've been an easy sell or a more obvious choice for Garcia to go all out and let his imagination run wild but the most out-there we get is McGregor playing off against McGregor as the prince of this world assumes the form of Jesus as he tries to cloud his judgement of what is to come. The other detail working in Garcia's film favour is the stunning work of Terrence Malick's DOP Emmanuel Lubezki who captures the unforgiving lands of the Middle East with stunning authority. Anyone familiar with Malick's more recent works will be able to instantly pinpoint the skills of the world class cinematographer as his camera glides over the dusty landscape and follows the cast on their various strolls and combined with Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans classy score, Last Days feels like a polished and assured production, even if its fanfare free release suggests it wasn't going to be the case. Final Say – At times to slow and ponderous to ever threaten to become a must-see with slightly too much focus on Hind's and his family, Garcia who has shown a wise hand with fine dramas like Mother and Child and Nine Lives delivers an above average interpretation of a well-known Bible story and The Last Days in the Desert ends up becoming a quietly moving portrait of a human being unlike any other that was set on upon a path of greatness. 3 big bed bugs out of 5

Beautifully filmed and choreographed picture but perfectly pointless and uninteresting. The cast is top notch but the movie looks like one of those filmed in a week or so as an art project aka self gratification. The DP on this project is probably the best in the world so it's worth watching just for that but don't expect to get any religious inspiration, at least not if you are a common layman. It doesn't have enough story behind it. What inspired me to write this review though was the filming location. This film was made in the California desert, not Egypt or the holyland. Why does that matter? I grew up in the desert southwest. I've never been to the holyland but I can almost guarantee it's not the same geology and biodiversity. They might as well have filmed this in the Australian outback. I'll try to explain by example. In the show 'narcos', Wagner Moura plays pablo escobar and he does his lines mostly in Spanish, but Mr. Moura is from brazil. I don't know why but he didn't play the character with a columbian accent; he played the character with a Brazilian accent which columbians instantly recognized. The show was a hit in the US because most people didn't notice but in columbia, and most parts of Latin and south America, the show instantly became a joke about US relations with countries south of the border. If you're going to do a story about the holyland don't do it in your backyard.

it seems strange. far by the classic story of Jesus in Carantania desert. without the well known temptations and without the expected answers of Son of God. Rodrigo Garcia gives only the portrait of a strange meet of Jesus with a family. few riddles and dialogues and slow action and enigmatic facts. each- far by a religious film. or a coherent story. a riddle. like the riddles of the boy. in fact, only a challenge. puzzle of discreet cultural references from the roof of the Temple to Abraham and Last Temptation, from Pasolini to Paradjanov. a film of gestures and looks. maybe, a poem. ignoring Resurrection. because the Resurrection is the duty of the viewer. perfect subject of debates and controversies, it propose a new, interesting and far to be uninspired portrait of the Savior. Ewan McGregor gives a not comfortable Jesus but one who impress for the honest manner to remind old truths who are , in too many occasions, insignificant. a poem about the small things who defines the life. and nothing more.

This film is certainly not for everyone. The pace is, to put it mildly, leisurely. It is very understated. It does not explain everything and hand you a nice, neat interpretation all wrapped up with a bow on top. The incidents portrayed are not found in the Gospels, but neither do they contradict anything in either the Gospels or fundamental tenets of Christianity as in e.g. the Nicene Creed. Statements to the contrary by other reviewers are due either to narrower understandings of Christianity or inattention to details of the dialogue. **Spoiler** The portrayal of Jesus here is maximally human. This Jesus is not Clark Kent, ready to deploy his Superman powers at a moment's notice. However, he states that he is the only son of God and near the end of the film, it appears that he plans to heal the mother until she indicates she does not want him to. Thus, I consider it an exploration into the nature of Jesus' humanity and relationship to God, perhaps skirting the edge of orthodoxy without actually violating it. The most troubling incident, from a Christian perspective, is Jesus' inquiry into the destiny of the son in the story via Satan. Certain passages in the Gospels certainly suggest that Jesus may not have been omniscient, so that in itself is not necessarily problematic. The idea that Jesus would demand this information from Satan made me a little uncomfortable, though, for reasons I can't completely pin down.

This is supposed to be a creative interpretation of Jesus' 40 days in the desert. If you didn't have subtitles on, as we did, you wouldn't know that it was supposed to be Yeshua, but they so noted, when he spoke. Many aspects of the story troubled me as a Christian. Firstly, the devil is portrayed as an exact replica of Jesus, such that often, you could be confused as to which was speaking. Was the author trying to say that satan is just the "counterpart" of Jesus? Then, the devil had nothing but bad things to say about God. In the real story, he merely repeated scripture-truthful statements-to Jesus, in his attempt to tempt Him to use His power to meet His own needs. Jesus defeated temptation due to His faithful devotion to His Father God. Instead, in this story, satan appears to know more about things than Jesus does, including Jesus' power to heal, etc, and has to be the one to tell Him. the devil also knows the future, which Jesus seemingly doesn't, cuz He asks him about the boy's future. The only success Jesus seems to have in the desert is to be able to take the boy to freedom and a future in the city; otherwise, under His watch, a man dies and a woman is left to die alone; this presumably is meant to portray Him as not much of a success, or very powerful. In the end, you got the impression that the whole thing-His life on earth-was futile. I really dislike all the disrespectful ways hollywood depicts Jesus; better to stick with just getting to know Him yourself.