The Brand New Testament

Le tout nouveau testament - Musta huumori pärlid

MS12

Genre

Black comedy

Director

Jaco Van Dormael

Run time

1h 55min

Cast

Benoît Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, Yolande Moreau, François Damiens, Pili Groyne

In Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael's universe, God (Benoit Poelvoorde) is a mean-spirited bastard lounging around his Brussels apartment in dressing gown and trackies, watching sport on TV and wreaking havoc on the world from his DOS-run PC. Goddess (the marvellous Yolande Moreau), his long suffering wife, sticks to her embroidery and bides her time. But ten-year-old daughter Éa (played by a fantastic young actress, Pili Groyne) has taken one too many strappings from the old man and resolves – with the help of her better-known older brother – to liberate the world from the malign hand of Dad. Not to give away too much about her mission, she sets about recruiting six disciples whose testimony about their own miracle-free lives will constitute the Brand New Testament.

"Van Dormael maintains a blazing storytelling momentum and a highly creative visual scheme. He's in the Gondry/Gilliam zone, but if you can't get down with a floating fish skeleton humming ‘La Mer', why do you go to the movies in the first place?… This is a vision of optimism, of people being given the opportunity to help one another and doing it with tenderness. If you can get past the initial blasphemy, you'll find a highly moral film." — Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian

"The Brand New Testament" was selected as Belgium's candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars.

Belgium / Luxembourg / France 2015

Genre

Black comedy

Director

Jaco Van Dormael

Run time

1h 55min

Cast

Benoît Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, Yolande Moreau, François Damiens, Pili Groyne

In Belgian director Jaco Van Dormael's universe, God (Benoit Poelvoorde) is a mean-spirited bastard lounging around his Brussels apartment in dressing gown and trackies, watching sport on TV and wreaking havoc on the world from his DOS-run PC. Goddess (the marvellous Yolande Moreau), his long suffering wife, sticks to her embroidery and bides her time. But ten-year-old daughter Éa (played by a fantastic young actress, Pili Groyne) has taken one too many strappings from the old man and resolves – with the help of her better-known older brother – to liberate the world from the malign hand of Dad. Not to give away too much about her mission, she sets about recruiting six disciples whose testimony about their own miracle-free lives will constitute the Brand New Testament.

"Van Dormael maintains a blazing storytelling momentum and a highly creative visual scheme. He's in the Gondry/Gilliam zone, but if you can't get down with a floating fish skeleton humming ‘La Mer', why do you go to the movies in the first place?… This is a vision of optimism, of people being given the opportunity to help one another and doing it with tenderness. If you can get past the initial blasphemy, you'll find a highly moral film." — Jordan Hoffman, The Guardian

"The Brand New Testament" was selected as Belgium's candidate for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Oscars.

Belgium / Luxembourg / France 2015

Info

Rating

Under 12 Not Recommended

Production year

2016

Global distributor

--

Local distributor

Bestfilm.eu

In cinema

9/1/2016