Last Days in the Desert (2016)

Powerful

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

I gotta say, in my opinion, Jesus was as real as Santa Claus. I don't mean the version derived from legends, real-life saints and folklore. I mean the eating-cookies-and-delivering-presents- to-good-children-version.Good casting, good direction, good acting. I liked the fact that there weren't that many protagonists. Recently, it seems to me that stories not involving more than 5 people mostly turn out to be interesting.This movie could've been about anyone, because at the center of it are ever-present questions and dynamics from everyday life (family life) from back then and now. It could've been about a nomad, exploring his spirituality or existence in the desert.It is slow-paced, but what else to expect from a movie like this. The well-placed score themes and exceptional cinematography by the great Emmanuel Lubezki are two definite reasons to watch this. I've read comments about the landscape not being compelling enough to make this film interesting, which is not true at all. A good cinematographer can do wonders with almost nothing. The only thing I didn't quite like about it were the scenes before the last with Jesus on the cross and being carried to his tomb. The reason is obvious. They're redundant and in no way really connected to the rest of the movie. Garcia should've left them out completely. 6.9/10.

The film begins in an interesting way - immersing you (somewhat) into the atmosphere... but that's about it. From then onward, this movie has nothing to do with Jesus in the desert.If the director would have done just a liiiiitle bit of research into the life of ascetics who went into the desert to pray and fast... he would have made a much better movie. But this movie is a shame...This is not how a spiritual master (or even more, the Son of God Himself) prepares for the mission to save mankind by taking upon His shoulders all their sins... Not by wandering here and there and getting his head into mirages that the desert produces.According to this director, Jesus broke his fast (when the family invited him to eat, he eventually eats a bite), Jesus asks the devil (seriously?!) about the destiny of that kid, Jesus asks the devil how God is?!?!?!?!?! Seriously?!?!?! How huge an incompetence this is? What kind of person would make such a movie?...None of the dialogues from the Bible are there - just made-up stuff that doesn't rhyme with the tone of the story...No serious prayers or meditations from "Jesus" (he's also scared of the devil, mind you!...) - no significant insight into the human nature, into spirituality, into TEMPTATION... into evolution... into HIS MISSION... It could have at least been a movie about the old Obi-Wan in the wastelands on Tatooine... But this character is way below even that...Shame on you, Obi-Wan Kenobi - for taking up such a role... It would have been your most important role...

The film is fiction. I don't think Jesus was written with a supernatural significance. Jesus Christ is the son of God. In this story, Christ was written as a holy man and never really identified as the son of God. I did like the humanity of the acting and the writing revealed humane qualities. The film needed the resurrection. It didn't have a faith based message without the resurrection. Christ lived a man's life and he died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected. The resurrection was left out, which gave it a stale ending. The resurrection is just as important as the crucifixion. I didn't like the fact that Jesus did not revive the old man (father). Jesus never let anything die around him. He walked in life and all death was resurrected around him. He was a man to bring death back to life. This was missing. I did not like that the director left that out. I don't consider it a Christian film, although it was interesting. Needs resurrecting.

The concept of doing a movie about Christ's 40 days in the Desert is very intriguing. The idea of His trials and tribulations being tempted by Satan and battling his destiny as the Savior of the world would fascinate any Christian audience. The character of Jesus the Man and not Jesus the Son of God is present. The audience is not witnessed to any miracles or sermons. Instead, we see Jesus the young Rabbi and Carpenter and instead of making grand speeches, we see a soft spoken Man trying to be a family psychologist as he tries to help a family He meets while in the Desert. This is very different from your average movie about Jesus Christ. As he tries to deal with being the Son of God he comes across a Father and Son that have troubles of their own. Jesus tries to help in more ways than one and this takes up about 80% of the movie. The movie has many odd moments including a few times when Satan messes with Jesus throughout the Desert. Although this is an interesting concept and I enjoyed the originality of the movie, I feel it falls short. The movie should have been all about the Desert and how it impacted Jesus. We really don't see a difference in Jesus or any character development by the end of the movie. The relationship between Jesus and Satan was also weird. They go from being Enemies, which is obvious, to almost sympathetic friends. Their relationship could have used some more time to focus on. Finally, my biggest gripe with the movie is the ending. I felt the last ten minutes should have been cut entirely. We witness the Crucifixion and the Burial, but not the Resurrection. This decision by the Director, along with having the modern day scene at the very end, is up for debate. Why he decided to include this needs to be questioned and defended. My only opinion on showcasing this is whether or not it is needed for the story line. After all, this is about Jesus in the Desert, nothing else. I felt the ending took away from the plot of what Jesus was doing for those 40 days and why it is important to the overall Character. I feel the movie failed to show us that. Granted we can make parallels between Jesus and God and the Father and Son characters. Still, from what transpires between the characters, is anything learned from their decisions? Overall, Jesus becomes more and more a side character as the Family takes center stage. If the theme of loyalty is the overall message from the movie, the question remains, is it obvious?